According to a new Pew Research study since 2007, 75 percent more Americans over the age of 50 are now choosing not get married, but rather just live with or “cohabitate” with a partner instead. The study also found that “grey divorce” of people over the age of 50 has about doubled since the 1990s and that could account for part of the “cohabitation” spike.
Marriage therapist Julie Nise tells KTRH that many people who have been married and divorced before “instead of learning what they need top make it better the next time around, they just avoid whatever pain they had to start with.”
According to the study, changing in tax filings or changes in social security benefits are other factors for older American to live together but never actually “tie the knot”.
The Pew research data was compiled from Using U.S. Census Bureau data from 134,562 people over the age of 18.