take on living together before marriage

we caught an article yesterday citing a new study which contradicts findings long established as fact.  The new study found that cohabiting before marriage actually did not lead to higher divorce rates which is what previous studies had always claimed..  The only thing shocking about this new study to me was that it had to be done in the first place because the studies it countered never made any sense

Ask any sensible couple and it seems ridiculously obvious that really knowing each other is paramount to any long term relationship because if you have already lived together you know each other quirks, sleeping habits, snoring issues and commitments to keeping a tidy home. You probably have also had some joint finances so have a better sense of what you can both find acceptable spending habits.   I always thought the first study was probably skewed because people who might be willing to live together first might be more liberal thinking and would not see the same kind of stigma in divorce as people who are more conservative in their social views.    For example hard-core Catholics don't allow divorce and also don't allow living in sin, so even if they are married and extremely unhappy there really is no way out..  I'd like to see what 'happiness' rates are for those couples

So we are going to file this away with other findings like water being wet, Tebow being a good person and Rick Santorum being a misogynist psycho