Final answer:
Approximately 50% of individuals have cohabited before marriage. The practice of cohabitation before marriage has become more socially accepted, and recent research suggests it does not significantly impact the success of a marriage.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prior to marriage, approximately 50% of all individuals have cohabited. This trend is indicative of changing social norms and a shift in how couples approach long-term commitments. Studies indicate that today, roughly 28 percent of men and women cohabitated before their first marriage. Over time, the percentage of individuals cohabiting before marriage has increased significantly. In the 1970s, the number of unmarried couples cohabitating was fewer than one million; this number rose to 8.1 million in 2011. The majority of these relationships eventually transition into marriage, with about half of cohabitating couples marrying within three years.
The growing acceptability of cohabitation has resulted in more people living together without being married. There has been a notable decline in the social stigma attached to cohabitation, with a 2010 survey revealing that only 38 percent thought that cohabitation negatively impacted society. Furthermore, recent research has suggested that cohabitation has little discernible effect on the success of subsequent marriages, and couples who do not cohabit before marriage have only a slightly better rate of remaining married for over ten years.