New report sheds light on trends and patterns in marriage, divorce, and cohabitation

One in three marriages will end in divorce during their first 10 years... unmarried cohabitations overall are less stable than marriages.

The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within the first 5 years is 20 percent, but the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49 percont. After 10 years the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent, compared with 62 percent for cohabitations.

people who marry young, have less money, are not religious and whose parents are divorced are more likely to divorce themselves.

see also CDC publications