More than one-third of Christian young adults in Britain say that “cohabitation before marriage is all right” for both themselves and others, according to the results of a survey released May 7 by the Evangelical Alliance in London. The survey shows that 33 percent of Christians between ages 18 and 35 support the idea of couples living together before marriage, compared with 82 percent of non-Christians.

“This is not a new trend,” explains Karen Flowers, associate director of family ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide, who says acceptance of cohabitation has been growing for more than a decade. Although the majority of Adventist young people are still pro-marriage, says Flowers, there is “a whole generation of kids whose parents have divorced and it’s made them scared. They don’t want to put their kids through the same agony they went through. They’re afraid of committing long-term.”

“I think we’re going to see more and more of the attitude found in this survey,” says Heather Haworth, director of family ministries for the Adventist Church in Britain. She believes the trend is reflected in the Adventist Church as well, and cites anecdotal evidence that attitudes may be changing. In a recent Sabbath School class, she says, a vote showed that about half of Adventist young adults in the group accepted the idea of cohabitation.

But Haworth says the Adventist Church can offer convincing reasons for marriage over cohabitation.  She points to research showing that marriages that follow a period of pre-marital cohabitation are more likely to break up. Haworth also believes there is a connection between sexual promiscuity before marriage and marital infidelity.

A series of surveys conducted in 1994 at Adventist youth congresses in Europe focused on the issue of cohabitation. One-third of respondents at a Switzerland Youth Congress accepted the idea of cohabitation versus one-sixth of respondents at a similar event in Finland during the same year. One-third said cohabitation offered an opportunity to see if partners were really fitted for one another. The survey showed that the younger the respondents were, the higher the acceptance of the idea of cohabitation.