In the US, 75% of women will have lived with a man by the time they’re 30. This piece explores the meaning of cohabiting, especially relative to marriage. Pamela Smock says that although cohabitation is often more of an unconscious choice than a rational decision — wherein dating couples “slide into living together” — people who cohabit have higher odds of marriage than those who don’t. In this sense, says Smock, “cohabitation is supporting marriage.”

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