Premartial sex, Abstinence, Divorce, Co-habitation, Marriage - some studies

Finer, Lawrence B. "Trends in premarital sex in the United States, 1954–2003." Public Health Reports 122.1 (2007): 73.

·        Data from the 2002 survey indicate that by age 20, 77% of respondents had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age 44, 95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so by age 44

Rosenbaum, Janet E., and Byron Weathersbee. "True love waits: Do Southern Baptists? Premarital sexual behavior among newly married Southern Baptist Sunday school students." Journal of religion and health 52.1 (2013): 263-275.

·        More than 70% of respondents reported having had premarital vaginal or oral sex, but more than 80% regretted premarital sex. The proportion of premarital sex exceeded 80% in 6 of 9 churches, among men and women married after age 25 and women married before age 21. School sex education was the only source of information about sexually transmitted infections for 57% of respondents, and 65% supported secular sex education despite church opposition

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-are-following-secular-trends-in-premarital-sex-cohabitation-outside-of-marriage-says-dating-site-survey-113373/

·        According to the "2014 State of Dating in America" report published by Christian Mingle and JDate, 61 percent of Christians said they would have sex before marriage. Fifty-six percent said that it's appropriate to move in with someone after dating for a time between six months and two years. Fifty-Nine percent said it doesn't matter who the primary breadwinner of the family is. And 34 percent responded that while it would be nice to marry someone of the same faith, it's not required.

·       "Oftentimes couples find this as something personal between the two of them," Sussman explained. "Even if the church frowns on this behavior, they take it upon themselves to make an educated decision between the two of them."

http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/focus-findings/marriage/premarital-sex-and-divorce.aspx
http://nationalmarriageproject.org/resources/should-we-live-together/
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2002/04/the-effectiveness-of-abstinence-education-programs#pgfId=1009648

Teachman, Jay. "Premarital sex, premarital cohabitation, and the risk of subsequent marital dissolution among women." Journal of Marriage and Family 65.2 (2003): 444-455.

Jose, Anita, K. Daniel O’Leary, and Anne Moyer. "Does premarital cohabitation predict subsequent marital stability and marital quality? A meta‐analysis." Journal of Marriage and Family 72.1 (2010): 105-116.

·       Cohabitation with a romantic partner has become common in recent decades. This meta-analysis examined the link between premarital cohabitation and marital stability ( k = 16) and marital quality ( k = 12). Cohabitation had a significant negative association with both marital stability and marital quality. The negative predictive effect on marital stability, however, did not remain when only cohabitation with the eventual marital partner was analyzed, suggesting that these cohabitors may attach more long-term meaning to living together. Moderator analyses demonstrated that effects of cohabitation have remained consistent over time, despite the fact that cohabitation has become more normative.

Brown, Susan L., Wendy D. Manning, and Krista K. Payne. "Relationship Quality among Cohabiting versus Married Couples." (2014).

·       https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/WP/WP-14-03.pdf

·       Today’s cohabitors with marriage plans and marrieds who premaritally cohabited report similar relationship quality, illustrating the blurring boundaries between cohabitation and marriage in the contemporary context. At the same time, the remaining two groups are bifurcated with cohabitors who have no plans to marry suffering from the poorest relationship quality whereas the increasingly selective group who directly married without premarital cohabitation enjoy the highest relationship quality.

Paik, Anthony. "Adolescent sexuality and the risk of marital dissolution." Journal of Marriage and Family 73.2 (2011): 472-485.