Overall, 40 percent of married people, compared with about a quarter of singles or cohabitors, say they are "very happy" with life in general. Married people are also only about half as likely as singles or cohabitors to say they are unhappy with their lives. How happy are the divorced? If people divorce in order to be happy, as we are often told, the majority should demand their money back. Just 18 percent of divorced adults say they are "very happy," and divorced adults are twice as likely as married folk to say they are "not too happy" with life in general.
Only a minority of divorcing adults go on to make marriages that are happier than the one they left. This is not just an American phenomenon. One recent study by Steven Stack and J. Ross Eshleman of 17 developed nations found that "married persons have a significantly higher level of happiness than persons who are not married," even after controlling for gender, age, education, children, church attendance, financial satisfaction, and self-reported health.
Further, "the strength of the association between being married and being happy is remarkably consistent across nations.
But being married conferred a happiness advantage over and above its power to improve the pocketbook and the health chart. Cohabitation, by contrast, did not increase financial satisfaction or perceived health, and the boost to happiness from having a live-in lover was only about a quarter of that of being married. Another large study, of , Norwegians, found that, with both men and women, "the married have the highest level of subjective well-being, followed by the widowed.
Divorce weakens the bonds between parents and children over the long run. Adult children of divorce describe relationships with both their mother and their father less positively, on average, and they are about 40 percent less likely than adults from intact marriages to say they see either parent at least several times a week.
Despite the lurid Sex in the City marketing that promises singles erotic joys untold, both husbands and wives are more likely to report that they have an extremely satisfying sex life than are singles or cohabitors. Divorced women were the least likely to have a sex life they found extremely satisfying emotionally. For one thing, married people are more likely to have a sex life.
Single men are 20 times more likely, and single women ten times more likely, not to have had sex even once in the past year than the married.
Almost a quarter of single guys and 30 percent of single women lead sexless lives. Married people are also the most likely to report a highly satisfying sex life. Wives, for example, are almost twice as likely as divorced and never-married women to have a sex life that a exists and b is extremely satisfying emotionally. Contrary to popular lore, for men, having a wife beats shacking up by a wide margin: 50 percent of husbands say sex with their partner is extremely satisfying physically, compared with 39 percent of cohabiting men.
H ow can a piece of paper work such miracles? For surprisingly, the piece of paper, and not just the personal relationship, matters a great deal. People who live together, for the most part, don't reap the same kinds of benefits that men and women who marry do. Something about marriage as a social institution—a shared aspiration and a public, legal vow—gives wedlock the power to change individuals' lives. By increasing confidence that this partnership will last, marriage allows men and women to specialize—to take on those parts of life's tasks, from developing an interesting social life to getting money out of insurance companies, that one person does better or enjoys more than the other.
Though this specialization is often along traditional gender lines, it doesn't have to be. Even childless married couples benefit from splitting up the work. Married households have twice the talent, twice the time, and twice the labor pool of singles.
Over time, as spouses specialize, each actually produces more in both market and non-market goods than singles who have to shoulder all of life's tasks on their own. But because marriage is a partnership in the whole of life, backed up by family, community, and religious values, marriage can do what economic partnerships don't: give a greater sense of meaning and purpose to life a reason to exercise or cut back on booze, work harder, and to keep plugging even in the middle of those times when the marriage may not feel gratifying at all.
Married people are both responsible for and responsible to another human being, and both halves of that dynamic lead the married to live more responsible, fruitful, and satisfying lives.
Marriage is a transformative act, changing the way two people look at each other, at the future, and at their roles in society. And it changes the way significant others—from family to congregation to insurance companies and the IRS—look at and treat that same couple.
Sexual fidelity, an economic union, a parenting alliance, the promise of care that transcends day-to-day emotions: all these are what give a few words mumbled before a clergyman or judge the power to change lives.
What proportion of unhappily married couples who stick it out stay miserable? The latest data show that within five years, just 12 percent of very unhappily married couples who stick it out are still unhappy; 70 percent of the unhappiest couples now describe their marriage as "very" or "quite" happy.
Just as good marriages go bad, bad marriages go good. And they have a better chance of doing so in a society that recognizes the value of marriage than one that sings the statistically dubious joys of divorce. Send a question or comment using the form below. This message may be routed through support staff. The decision to get married or to move in with a partner is a personal one, but for most married and cohabiting adults, love and companionship trump other considerations, such as the desire to have children someday, convenience or finances.
When asked why they are not currently engaged or married to their partner, many cite financial reasons. Making a formal commitment is seen as a more important factor by married adults who did not live with their spouse before marriage. More practical reasons come into play to a greater degree for cohabiting adults than for those who are married.
Among cohabiters, women are more likely than men to say love and wanting to have children someday were major reasons why they moved in with their partner. There are no notable gender differences among married adults. There are also some differences across educational groups among married and cohabiting adults.
Two-thirds of cohabiting adults who are not engaged but say they would like to get married someday cite either their partner or themselves not being ready financially as a major or minor reason why they are not engaged or married to their current partner.
The survey also posed this question to cohabiters who are not engaged and are not sure they want to get married someday. Being married can make you a better human being. You know their favourite meals and drinks. You know their reading and movie likes. Many married couples say that their sex life takes on a new and deeper meaning. Sex is more intimate and you have the luxury of time to really get to know one another on a sexual level. Again researchers constantly tell us that, for the most part, married folk are far happier for longer periods of time than single people.
Humans naturally seek out companionship! Browse the directory and start planning today! Easy Weddings contains over wedding suppliers to make your wedding planning easy! Search the directory here. Copyright Easy Weddings Australia's No. Home Articles Wedding Advice 10 reasons to get married. Search for:. Share your worries We all go through stress with work, relationships, finance, etc. Improve your life Marriage offers many challenges.
Your sex life is more rewarding Many married couples say that their sex life takes on a new and deeper meaning.
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