9 Reasons Why Couples Who Live Together Before Marriage Have Stronger Relationships

Recently, more couples decide to become roommates before tying the knot. According to the National Center for Family and Marriage Research, 66% of American married couples have lived together before walking down the aisle. And even though this decision was once considered taboo, it now has become very common.

We at Bright side prepared a list of reasons why living together before marriage can actually be beneficial for your relationship and we’d love to share them with you.

1. You get to know the person better.

No matter how long you’ve been dating, there are things you will only know by living together. You might discover new things and realize at one point that you barely know anything about them! Yeah, going on movie dates is fun, but, as stated by experts, staying under the same roof with someone can give you an idea of who they truly are. Perhaps they’ll be the person you want to spend your life with.

2. You split house chores.

According to a 2007 Pew Research Center poll, sharing household chores was in the top 3 highest-ranking issues associated with a successful marriage after faithfulness and good sex. Therefore, it’s preferable to cohabitate together first and put a system for household tasks in place. When this happens, both partners will be familiar with the various responsibilities and know what’s expected from them after saying “I do.”

3. You manage your finances better.

If 2 people are dating but are both paying bills separately, why not split them and save money? This will allow them to spend it on themselves before marriage. Also, when you and your significant other establish a clear plan on who’s going to pay what, you keep financial problems away from negatively affecting your marriage later on.

4. You experience great intimacy.

Intimacy is also one of the reasons why people consider cohabitation before marriage, based on a recent study. They like to spend quality time with their partner on a physical and emotional level, which is a great way to build a solid relationship before marriage.

5. You’ll become better at conflict resolution.

It’s true that living together is a lot more challenging than actually seeing each other from time to time — you’ll start having disagreements on smaller things as you begin to adjust to each other. However, when you stay with each other, you start working on existing problems. You’ll begin to develop a great way of conflict resolution, which is highly beneficial for your marriage.

6. You show people that you’re united.

When a couple takes the step to move in together, they prove to others that they are both serious and really committed to each other. You’re now talking about yourselves as “we” and “us” and are deeply united against the external world.

7. You’re not so scared about marriage anymore.

Marriage is a huge life transition that comes with a lot of stress. In fact, it was proven that getting married is rated in the top 10 most stressful life events. And it doesn’t help, of course, when we see so many high-profile stories about divorce through the media. However, doing practice before marriage will make the idea of committing a little less scary.

8. You can end things easily if they don’t work out.

Let’s face it: you can start noticing some red flags that you’ve never seen during your honeymoon phase. And even though the choice to end things might be hard for both parties involved, at least it’s easier to move out than to divorce.

9. It can be good for your health.

If you live alone, you might start to feel lonely, which is bad for your health, according to a psychological study. So if you’re not ready to make a formal commitment yet but don’t want to feel lonely at the same time, you might want to consider moving in with your partner.

Do you believe that moving in together before marriage is beneficial for a relationship? Did you do it with your significant other?

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