Higher Divorce Rate

Couples who live together before marriage have a nearly 80% higher divorce rate than those who did not, and they seem to have less regard for the marriage institution, according to a survey of Swedish women conducted by Cambridge's National Bureau of Economic Research. Swedes were chosen because they tend to precede American social trends by 10 to 15 years, said David Bloom, an economics professor at Columbia University and a co-worker on the study. About 2 million of the U.S. couples who are living together are unwed&md;about 4% of the total. In Sweden 12% of couples are unwed.