BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE
• Married people live longer than unmarried or divorced people. Nonmarried women
have 50% higher mortality rates than married women and nonmarried men have a 250%
higher rate than married men. (Waite & Gallagher, 2000)
• Married people are happier than single, widowed, or cohabiting people. About 40%
of married people report being very happy with their lives, whereas only 18% of divorced people, 15% of separated people, and only 22% of widowed and 22% of cohabiting
people report being very happy. (Waite & Gallagher, 2000)
• Married people have more sex and a better quality sexual relationship than do
single, divorced or cohabiting individuals. (Waite & Gallagher, 2000)
• Married people are more successful in their careers, earn more, and have more
wealth than single, divorced or cohabiting individuals. (Waite & Gallagher, 2000;
Antonovics & Town, 2004)
• Children from homes where the parents are married tend to be more academically
successful, more emotionally stable, and more often assume leadership roles. (Waite
& Gallagher, 2000; Manning & Lamb, 2003)
• Adolescents living with their biological parents are less likely to have sexual
intercourse. (Pearson, Frisco, 2006; Sieving, Eisenberg, Pettingell, & Skay, 2006)
• Two-parent households protect children from the negative effects of poverty. In the
U.S., nearly 60% of the children from single-parent households live in poverty, as
compared to only 11% of children from two-parent families. (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
2006)
SOURCE: Marriage & Family Facts 2007
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