In the spirit of Valentines Day, I thought I would write about the idea of living together before getting married. Before you tie the knot and spend $20,000 to $40,000 on a wedding, why not “test drive” living together and see if it will work BEFORE you plunk down $40,000 for that one day of happiness? I know, I know. Very romantic of me. I am pragmatic, what can I say.
According to Statistics Canada:
The latest estimates from Statistics Canada in 2008 suggest that 38 per cent of married couples in Canada will divorce by their 30th wedding anniversary (divorce beyond that point is rare). The percentages range from 22 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador to 48 per cent in Quebec. In the U.S., the figure is 44 per cent.
In my family studies class that I took back in university, I read that people who live common law have a higher rate of divorce. The argument for this is that if you live common law and you and your partner fight about the same things over and over, some people believe that when they get married, these problems will magically disappear. Hence couples divorce when they realize that those problems that weren’t fixable didn’t go away with the $40,000 celebration.
We test drive cars before we buy them, we try on clothes before we buy them, now why wouldn’t we try out living together before we get married?
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