[American Soldier]

I think well-intentioned conservatives are often twisting the idea of causation in order to make a point out of all these cohabitation articles that have been written in the last 5 years or so... I don't believe cohabitation causes relationships to fail per se, it just reveals that the two people were compatible enough to maintain a non-cohabitating relationship but were not compatible enough to actually lives together.

If anything I would guess it would prevent divorce, unless the case is that the two people would've developed a better relationship while spending more time apart, which I guess could be the case with certain couples.

[Callahan]

Actually, co-habitation increases the liklihood of divorce since couples who live together before getting officially hitched tend to place less value on the marriage "contract" and bail out when they hit a sore spot. I don't think it's a good thing for society in general, although that makes me a total hypocrite since I live with my girlfriend.

[gridlock]

Serial cohabitation is practice for divorce.