premaritally

"The dissolution rates of women who cohabit premaritally with their future spouse are, on average, nearly 80 percent higher than the rates of those who don't."

"In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman might have a baby premaritally and have no strong connection with the father, or she might have a husband who goes on to another polygamous marriage and supports the children of that union.

"What we are saying is that it appears that people who cohabit premaritally are less committed to the institution and are more inclined to divorce than people who don't live together," Mr. Bennett said in an interview.

In 1938 the Population Statistics Act required the age of the mother at the birth of the child to be recorded, and these new data revealed that one-seventh of all children born between 1938 and 1939 were premaritally conceived.