The Benefits of Marriage
Reviving Marriage in America by William J. Doherty
Benefits for Adults
- Married men and women have lower mortality rates and tend to have better overall health than their single counterparts.
- Married couples tend to have more material resources, less stress and better social support than people who are not married.
- Married men are less likely to abuse alcohol.
- Both married men and women report significantly lower levels of depression and have better overall psychological well-being than their single, divorced, widowed and cohabitating counterparts.
- Married African-Americans have better life satisfaction than whose who are single.
- Married men report higher wages than single men and have been found to be more productive and more likely to be promoted.
- Married women tend to have substantially more economic resources than single women. The economic benefits of marriage are especially strong for women who come from disadvantaged families.
Benefits for Children
- Children from families with married parents are less likely to experience poverty than children from single-parent or cohabitating families.
- Children born to cohabitating couples have a higher chance of experiencing family instability, a factor that has been linked to poor child well-being.
- Children from married, two parent families tend to do better in school than those who grow up in single-parent or alternative family structures.
- Children from intact, two parent families are less likely to experience emotional and or behavioral problems.
- The more time children live in a married, two-parent home, the less likely they are to use drugs.
- Children from intact, two-parent families are less likely to have children out of wedlock in their future relationships.
- Women with married parents are less likely to experience a high-conflict marriage.
- Single mothers report more conflict with their children than married mothers.
- The rate of infant mortality is lower among married parents.
- Children living with their married, biological parents are less likely to experience child abuse.
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