Cohabiting before marriage (1)

You reported (November16) that Opposition spokesman on youth Owen Bonnici, asked if, in view of the number of young married couples going through separation proceedings, the time has come to consider encouraging young couples to live together for some time before they get married as this could perhaps help them understand what it meant to live with their partner before taking on a much bigger commitment.

This is naive. Extensive research on couples cohabiting before marriage show that in most cases it makes no difference whether a couple lived together when it comes to marriage stability while in some cases there is a greater risk of separation or divorce for couples who cohabit before marriage. I would expect from our MPs concerned with the marriage crisis in Malta and the rising incidence of separation more serious suggestions, such as how to strengthen marriage.