David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead

David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead are codirectors of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They have each written extensively on marriage and family-related issues. In the following viewpoint, Popenoe and Whitehead argue that cohabitation is having a detrimental effect on marriage in the United States. Cohabiting couples who marry are more likely to divorce than noncohabitors who marry, they point out. The reason for this higher marital failure rate among cohabitors is probably because they are more committed to their personal sense of independence than they are to the continuation of a relationship. Instead of institutionalizing cohabitation, American society should concentrate on revitalizing marriage, the authors conclude.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the authors, what percentage of high school...