同居时代:婚前同居情况越来越普遍

The number of unmarried cohabiting couples in the US increased more than 17 fold between 1960 and 2010, according to a recent US Census Bureau report.
根据美国人口普查局最新报告显示，美国未婚同居情侣人数在1960年至2010年间增加了17倍以上。

The benefits of cohabitation are obvious: It provides economies of scale as two can live more cheaply than one. It also encourages economic specialization by allowing individuals to focus on their unique skills while leaving other duties to their spouse.
同居的好处显而易见：二人生活更省钱，从而带来规模经济效益；同时二人生活还有利于经济分工，各自管好擅长领域，其余事情留给另一半。

A recent study conducted by the online rental site Rent.com of 1,000 cohabiting individuals in the US, found that 32 percent said living together helped them determine if their partner was “the one”.
根据房地产租赁网站Rent.com对全美1000名同居者进行的一项最新研究显示，32%的人认为同居有助于判断对方是否就是“命中注定的那个人”。

Ellen Mayr, a 25-year-old lawyer from Brisbane, Australia, has been living with her boyfriend for the last three years and is a big advocate of cohabitation. She says: “It’s important to know if you can work as a domestic unit as it’s not always a reflection of how much you love each other. It’s a function of how well you work together under all sorts of different stressors.”
25岁的艾伦·迈尔是一名来自澳大利亚布里斯班的律师，过去三年一直和男友同住的她是个不折不扣的“同居主义”。她说：“弄清你们能否组建家庭这点非常重要，因为这并不一定与感情深浅成正比。而是取决于面对各种压力时你们是否能很好地相处。”

The cohabitation rate is also on the rise among young Chinese. Author and relationship expert Marshall Miller believes cohabiting allows people to get to the “nitty-gritty” of the relationship before committing to marriage. “Cohabitation is a lot like turning the TV to your favorite channel — and then leaving it on 24/7”, he says. “You’re bound to see some stuff you don’t like much.”
与美国的情况类似，中国年轻人的同居率也正在上升。作家兼情感专家马歇尔·米勒认为，同居能让人们在步入婚姻殿堂前了解恋情的“本质”。“同居就好比把电视节目调到自己最喜爱的频道，然后一周24小时循环连播”，他说，“你一定会看到一些不太喜欢的内容。”