Ready and Willing

There is some promising news regarding those who are in what the authors of this report consider to be an “at risk” population. “At risk” in this instance specifically means at risk of divorce once marriage has taken place. Of those who reported being in cohabiting relationships (a high divorce risk group), 80% indicated that they may be “willing to participate in relationship education classes designed to strengthen” their “relationship and prevent problems from starting” compared to 75% for the rest of the sample.

The good news is that those people in this higher-risk category are slightly more willing than the married people to consider attending educational classes aimed at strengthening their relationship. Traditionally, relationship education has been targeted to those couples that are formally engaged (pre-marital and relationship education) or married (marital enrichment), but this seems to be changing as more and more programs are becoming available for wider selection of audiences. Cohabiting couples may value testing the future viability of their relationship by living together, but apparently they are also interested in “classroom learning,” not just “on the job training.”



Harris, S.M., Glenn, N.D, Rappleyea, D.L., Diaz-Loving, R., Hawkins, A.J.,
Daire, A. P., Osborne, C., & Huston, T.L. (2008). Twogether in Texas:
Baseline Report on Marriage in the Lone Star State. Austin, TX:
Health and Human Services Commission.