Aw: Most cohabiting couples end up getting married

Federal researchers analyzed data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. As part of the survey, extensive in-home interviews were conducted with both men and women. Researchers found that more than half of all women between the ages of 15 and 44 had, at some point, lived with a partner without being married…

Despite the widespread and increasing popularity of living together without being married, marriage remains a mainstay of the U.S. population. Among those men and women who were living together, federal researchers report a 51 percent chance that they will end up marrying within three years, and a 65 percent chance they will marry within five years.

Unlike in a number of European countries, where unmarried partnerships can continue for decades and include having children, Cherlin says most Americans still want to get married.