Public health analysts report a steady decrease in the national divorce rate. A key reason for this is that

• A. More people are postponing marriage until they are older and more financially and emotionally stable, which lowers the risk of divorce.
• B. The overall number of marriages has increased sharply, spreading divorces over a larger base.
• C. Divorce laws have become substantially more restrictive, making legal divorce harder to obtain.
• D. An increasing share of couples now begin their relationships as cohabitation, which is uniformly associated with lower divorce rates.

Answer: (A)