Vote for the best news story about the CDC report

This week, we wrote four-paragraph news stories based on the information on page 169 of our text, Reporting for the Media. To the facts we found there about a Centers for Disease Control report on American marriages, you added a quote or two from links found on Springboard.

Vote for the news story written by Newswriting students that you think is best. Then explain the reasons for your choice in the comments section at the end of this post. You must comment on this post to earn full participation points for week six this semester.

CDC Story #1

Marriage lasts longer when partners do not live with each other before marriage, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control.

In the study of 50,000 women, 40 percent of couples who live together before marriage broke up after 10 years. This is compared to 31 percent of couples who did not live together before marriage.

Dr. Ed Sondik, director of CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, said researchers looked beyond how living together before marriage affects the duration of marriages.

“We’ve also attempted to look beyond the influence of individual characteristics and are looking more at the characteristics of the community at large to get a comprehensive picture of what factors impact marriage and divorce rates in this country,” he said.

The CDC found couples at a greater risk for divorce tend to be young, less wealthy and less religious.

CDC Story #2

Couples are at a greater risk for divorce when they live together before they marry, the Centers for Disease Control announced Wednesday.

After 10 years of marriage, 40 percent of couples who had lived together before marriage had broken up. This is compared with 31 percent of those couples who did not live together before marriage.

Additionally, researchers concluded that 43 percent of married couples break up within 15 years.

“In the United States during the second half of the 20th century, the proportion of people’s lives spent in marriage declined due to postponement of marriage to later ages and higher rates of divorce,” according to the report.

Additional risk factors that lead to divorce include being less religious, not having a college education and not being as wealthy.

CDC Story #3

Couples who live together before marriage tend to have traits that put them at a greater risk for divorce, according to a newly released study of American marriage.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control, surveyed 50,000 women. It found that 40 percent of couples who had lived together before marriage divorced after 10 years. Only 31 percent of married couples who had not lived together had broken up during the same time period.

Researchers expanded the study “beyond the basic ‘bookends’ of marriage and divorce to look more closely at how the issue of cohabitation impacts the life of a relationship,” explained Dr. Ed Sondik, director of CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

Overall, researchers found that 43 percent of marriages end within 15 years. Wealthy, religious, college-educated women stand the best chance of making their marriages last.

Released Wednesday, the study also found that half of U.S. women had lived with a partner by age 30. Seventy percent of couples who lived together for at least five years eventually married.

CDC Story #4

Couples who live together before marriage have a greater risk of divorce, according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control.

In a major study of American marriages, researchers found that 40 percent of couples who lived together before marriage had broken up within 10 years, compared to 31 percent of couples who did not live together.

While the report lists many possible factors that contribute to the success or failure of a relationship, researchers concluded that “community prosperity is related to successful cohabitations and marriages.”

The CDC found that the odds of a marriage surviving longer than one decade are also increased when the woman is wealthy, religious, college-educated and at least 20 years old.

CDC Story #5

People living in affluent communities are more likely to have enduring relationships, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday.

People living in communities with higher incomes, lower crime rates and higher education levels tend to have more successful unions, the study reported. These living conditions result in more stable cohabitations and durable marriages.

The study was conducted on 50,000 American women from assorted races, backgrounds and incomes. According to the report, there is nothing to contradict the conclusion that a community’s affluence is a major factor in all relationships.