Why Marriage Matters - Operation Us

You might be surprised to know the many ways marriage impacts men and women. Looking to improve your health? Married people live longer than do otherwise similar people who are single or divorced. Husbands as well as wives live longer on average, even after controlling for race, income and family background. (1)

Married people appear to manage illness better, monitor each other's health, have higher incomes and wealth, and adopt healthier lifestyles than do otherwise similar singles. (2) Married men and women have lower rates of alcohol consumption and substance abuse than do singles. Longitudinal research has found that young adults, particularly men, who marry tend to reduce their rates of alcohol consumption and illegal drug use. (3)

Healthy marriages are good for your children, too. Divorced and unmarried childbearing appear to have negative effects on children's physical health and life expectancy. (4) Parental divorce or nonmarriage has a significant, long-term negative impact on children's educational attainment. Children of divorced or unwed parents have lower grades and other measures of academic achievement, are more likely to be held back, and are more likely to drop out of high school. (5)

Marriage is also beneficial to your financial health. Married couples build more wealth on average than do otherwise similar singles or cohabiting couples, even after controlling for income. (6) The economic advantages of marriage stem from more than just access to two incomes. Marriage partners appear to build more wealth for some of the same reasons that partnerships in general are economically efficient, including economies of scale and specialization and exchange. Marital social norms that encourage healthy, productive behavior and wealth accumulation (such as buying a home) also appear to play a role. (7)

Healthy marriages matter - for adults, for children, and for the communities where we live.

References

Lee A. Lillard & Linda J. Waite (1995). "Till death do us part: Marital disruption and mortality," American Journal of Sociology, vol. 100, p. 1131-1156.
Catherine E. Ross et al. (1990). "The impact of the family on health: Decade in review," Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol 52, p. 1059-1078. Â
Jerald G. Bachman et al (1997). Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use in Young Adulthood; Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Carol Miller-Tutszuer et al. (1991). "Marriage and alcohol use: A longitudinal study of maturing out," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, vol 52, p. 434-440.
James S. Goodwin Et al. (1987). "The effect of marital status on stage, treatment, and survival of cancer patients," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 258, p. 3125-3130.
Robin W. Simon (2002). "Revisiting the relationships among gender, marital status, and mental health," American Journal of Sociology, vol 107, p. 1065-1096.
Jerald G. Bachman et al (1997). Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use in Young Adulthood; Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Carol Miller-Tutszuer et al. (1991). "Marriage and alcohol use: A longitudinal study of maturing out," Journal of Studies on Alcohol, vol 52, p. 434-440.
Ronald Angel and Jacqueline Worobey (1988). "Single motherhood and children's health," Journal of health and Social Behavior, vol 29, p. 38-52.
Paul R. Amato (2001). "Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of the Amato and Keith (1991) Meta-Analysis," Journal of Family Psychology , vol. 15 (3), p. 355-270.
William H. Jeynes (2000). "The effects of several of the most common family structures on the academic achievement of eighth graders." Marriage and Family Review, vol. 30, p. 73-97.
Catherine E. Ross and John Mirowsky (1999). "Parental divorce, life-course disruption and adult depression," Journal of Marriage and the Family, vol. 61 (4),Â p. 1034-1045.
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur (1994). Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Joseph Lupton and James P. Smith (2002). "Marriage, assets and savings," in Shoshana Grossbard-Schectmean (ed.) Marriage and the Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Janet Wilmoth (1998). "The timing of marital events over the life-course and pre-retirement wealth outcomes," (paper presented at meetings of the Population Association of America, (Chicago).
Lingxin Hao (1996). "Family structure, private transfers, and the economic well-being of families with children."Social Forces, vol. 75 (1), p. 269-292.
W. Bradford Wilcox, et al (2005). Why Marriage Matters, Second Edition. New York: Institute for American Values, p. 19.