Is marriage simply one life-choice option among many, or does marriage actually do important and unique things in our lives that make it markedly different from other relationships like singleness, dating, or cohabitation? For anyone concerned about improving human and societal well-being, this is a critical question.
Physical Health
A review of a decade of research published in the Journal of Marriage and Family in 2020 entitled “Family Matters” explains the “…that the married are in better health than the unmarried, cohabitors are in better health than the unmarried, but worse than the married…”
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health reported “possible biological reasons for health benefits from marriage.” They explained this is because “Married people have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol” and as a result, “marriage helps buffer people against daily stresses.”
Harvard Medical School also explained, there is fascinating and compelling research suggesting that married people enjoy better health than single people. For example, as compared with those who are single, those who are married tend to:
– live longer
– have fewer strokes and heart attacks
– have a lower chance of becoming depressed
– be less likely to have advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis and more likely to survive cancer for a longer period of time
– survive a major operation more often.
Psychological Health
A 2019 literature review published in an academic economics journal explained that marriage was associated with “a decrease in number of days of poor mental health, a decrease in the likelihood of depressive disorder diagnosis, and an increase in overall life satisfaction.”
Another academic study published in 2020 explained that “All unmarried groups, including the cohabitating, divorced/separated, widowed, and never married, had significantly higher odds of developing dementia…than their married counterparts.”
A European study published in 2005 found “marriage makes people far less likely to suffer psychological illness” even more so than for unmarried cohabitors.
Protection Against Poverty
A study of Swedish workers, found that “married men earned substantially more than unmarried men – even after taking into account their work hours, …their education and work experience, and whether or not they held supervisory responsibility.
A 2017 study conducted in Germany found “both women and men experience substantial marriage wealth premiums not only in household wealth but also in personal wealth.” Research like this led Jonathan Rauch, a noted journalist with the National Journal, to publish a game-changing essay in 2001 entitled “The Widening Marriage Gap” explaining how marital status had become a more important driver of economic well-being than even race. He explained that presently “…Poverty correlates more strongly with a family’s marital status than with its race.”
Domestic Violence and Maltreatment
A Report to Congress from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Child Abuse and Neglect published in 2010 revealed that, without question, and by far, the safest place for a child to live is with his or her own married mother and father. Family relativism puts children at seriously increased risk.
The Journal of Family Issues revisited the contrasting levels of domestic violence found in married and cohabiting homes in 2018. Even has cohabitation has lost much of its social stigma, this research team explains, “Our work demonstrates that cohabitors have higher rates of intimate partner violence [compared to married].”
Neighborhoods with higher levels of a happy marriage are better, stronger, safer, and healthier communities. Thus, fighting for and working toward a more pro-marriage culture is essential social justice work that all sectors of society should engage in.
Source:
Marriage As a Protective Factor Against Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence From Latin America
Research Update: The Compelling Health Benefits of Marriage
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