Final answer:
Cohabitation has little effect on the success of a marriage and may contribute to delaying marriage.
Step-by-step explanation:
On average, how do cohabiting relationships differ from marriages (page 9-10)?
While couples may use this time to "work out the kinks" of a relationship before they wed, the most recent research has found that cohabitation has little effect on the success of a marriage. In fact, those who do not cohabitate before marriage have slightly better rates of remaining married for more than ten years (Jayson 2010). Cohabitation may contribute to the increase in the number of men and women who delay marriage. The median age for marriage is the highest it has ever been since the U.S. Census kept records-age twenty-six for women and age twenty-eight for men (U.S. Census 2010).