Patricia Casey: 'It's not fashionable - but when parents marry rather than just cohabit, children are better off'

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Throughout the Western world, there has been a dramatic growth in cohabitation between couples prior to marriage since the 1980s
This was driven, in all probability, by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s
The idea behind cohabitation, or trial marriages as they were then called, seemed intuitively good
These couplings would assist boyfriends and girlfriends in knowing how well they got on together in a marriage-like but informal arrangement
as a precursor to marriage
Successful cohabitation followed by marriage should, according to the theory, result in more successful marriages and a reduction in
divorce.