Sunday, May 3, 2015

Marriage Factoids from Scott Stanley



While likely coming down, the lifetime estimated risk of divorce remains high, at 40 to 50%.



31% of marriages are seriously distressed.



By middle adulthood, most people will have lived with someone outside of marriage.



Unmarried cohabiting couples are now more likely to break up than to marry.

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family: Guzzo, 2014 and Vespa, 2014


48% of first births in the U.S. are to unmarried women.



Children born to cohabiting parents are much more likely to have their parents break-up than children born to married parents.



Living together before marriage is not associated with improved odds of success in marriage, and many variations are associated with worse odds.



Having multiple sexual partners before marriage is typical (median = 5); having sexual partners beyond the person one marries is associated with reduced odds of success in marriage.