Living Together Before Marriage As the rate of divorce soars and as increasing numbers of marriages disintegrate, living together has become the popular alternative to many people in north America. Expersts estimate that "roughly 2.2 million people are currently sharing bed and board in a live-in arrangement, this is approximately 1% of the total population."("Family." Comptoms Encyclopedia. 1992 ed.) Living together, more formally known as non marital cohabitation, is an emerging lifestyle. In fact, "More than one fourth of all unmarried couples living together in the early 1980's were between 25 and 34 years old, and an additional 1