With the share of married adults at an all-time low in the United States, the latest research by demographers at Cornell University and the University of Central Oklahoma unveils clues why couples don't get married - they fear divorce.

Among cohabitating couples, more than two-thirds of the study's respondents admitted to concerns about dealing with the social, legal, emotional and economic consequences of a possible divorce.

The study, "The Specter of Divorce: Views from Working and Middle-Class Cohabitors," is published in the journal Family Relations and is co-authored by Sharon Sassler, Cornell professor of policy analysis and management, and Dela Kusi-Appouh, a Cornell doctoral student in the field of development sociology.

Roughly two out of three - 67 percent -of the study's respondents shared their worries about divorce.

Despite the concerns, middle-class subjects spoke more favorably about tying the knot and viewed cohabitation as a natural stepping stone to marriage compared to their working-class counterparts.

Lower-income women, in particular,disproportionately expressed doubts about the "trap" of marriage, fearing that it could be hard to exit if things go wrong or it would lead to additional domestic responsibilities but few benefits.

The study also found working-class cohabitating couples were more apt to view marriage as "just a piece of paper," nearly identical to their existing relationship.

They were twice as likely to admit fears about being stuck in marriage with no way out once they were relying on their partners' share of income to get by.

The authors hope that their findings could help premarital counselors to better tailor their lessons to assuage widespread fears of divorce and to target the specific needs of various socioeconomic classes.

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

一项大学研究发现，许多美国年轻情侣不结婚是因为怕遭受离婚的创伤。

眼下美国已婚人士的比例降到了史上最低点，康奈尔大学和中央俄克拉荷马大学的人口统计学家做的最新研究揭示了为什么美国情侣们不结婚——他们怕离婚。

接受调查的同居情侣有超过三分之二的人承认自己担心如果离婚将要应对社会、法律、情感和经济等一系列后果。

这一研究名为《离婚的阴霾：工人阶层和中产阶层同居者看婚姻》，发表在《家庭关系》杂志上，由康奈尔大学的政策分析与管理学教授莎伦?萨斯勒和发展社会学方向的博士生德拉?库西-阿坡共同撰写。

约三分之二（67%）的被调查者吐露了他们对于离婚的担忧。

尽管年轻人怕离婚，但中产阶层的年轻人相对于工人阶层的年轻人还是比较赞成结婚的，他们把同居视为自然地走向婚姻的垫脚石。

担忧婚姻会成为“牢笼”的低收入女性比重尤为突出，她们害怕如果婚姻不如意将难以持续，或认为结婚会带来额外的家庭负担而却没多少好处。

研究还发现，工人阶层的同居情侣更倾向于认为婚姻“只是一张纸”，和他们现有的关系几乎没什么两样。

他们承认自己害怕一旦要依靠另一半的收入过日子便无法从婚姻牢笼中逃脱，有这种想法的工人阶层年轻人是中产阶层年轻人的两倍。

作者希望他们的发现可以帮助婚前咨询师更好地调整课程，以舒缓人们对离婚的普遍恐惧，并能针对不同社会经济阶层的特定需要进行授课。