An article published on the Japanese website mynavi shared the perspectives of people with premarital cohabitation experience.
In a survey of 166 married individuals, 76 (45.8%) reported having cohabited before marriage. Regarding the benefits of premarital cohabitation, 67 of the 76 respondents (88.2%) believed it was beneficial. That's nearly 90%! Let's take a look at their specific opinions.
Many people in the survey said that "cohabitation before marriage can help you understand your partner's living abilities and lifestyle, and enhance mutual understanding and tolerance," "cohabitation before marriage can help you see your partner's shortcomings better," "cohabitation can test whether your values are compatible," "because you are already used to each other's lifestyles, there will be no disagreements or arguments after marriage," and "cohabitation before marriage can help you understand your partner's views on money and lifestyle, which is very valuable."
Judging from the results, most people believe that premarital cohabitation has many advantages, mainly in understanding each other's lifestyle, financial values, and other aspects that are difficult to understand without long-term interaction.
So, 11.8% of people believe that premarital cohabitation has no benefits. Let's look at their reasons. Many people said, "Premarital cohabitation reduces the novelty of married life," "The other person's attitude may change drastically after marriage, so premarital cohabitation is meaningless," and "Although premarital cohabitation can enhance understanding, married life is completely different from cohabitation." Among those who believe that premarital cohabitation has no benefits, most believe that premarital cohabitation and married life are different.
The survey results suggest that premarital cohabitation does indeed enhance understanding of each other's lifestyles and financial values. If you have someone you're planning to marry, consider trying cohabitation to improve mutual understanding and tolerance. Because you want to spend your life with that person, you want to minimize any unnecessary anxieties.
