Why Being Married May No Longer Make You Healthier- New Research

According to new studies, the health benefits of blissful marriage have been decreasing from generation to generation.

For decades, there had been a growing body of evidence linking marriage with better health. Some studies showed that those who tie the knot live longer, have less chance of becoming depressed, and have fewer strokes and heart attacks.

However, a recent study published in Social Science quarterly suggests marriage might not have all the health benefits we previously thought.

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”The study found that the link between being married and being healthier has gotten weaker for younger generations, to the point where it may no longer exist once we account for the fact that healthier people are more likely to get married in the first place,” Dmitry Tumin, PhD, author of the study and a sociologist at The Ohio State University told Health line.

Tumin compared married people born between 1955 and 1984 in marriages of varying lengths.

Short marriages were no more than four years, medium-length marriages were five to nine years, and enduring marriages were 10 years or more.

“For older generations, there may have been a greater lifestyle difference between married and single people, favoring the health of married people,” Tumin said.

Although Tumin’s study didn’t examine the reasons why marriage may no longer be as beneficial for our health, he said it could be due to changing views of both marriage and being single.

“There have been significant cultural changes in how marriage is perceived, but more importantly in what singlehood entails,” he said.

“Singles are increasingly living with friends or parents, and are generally less isolated than they may have been in past generations.

Therefore, disadvantages ascribed to singlehood, including health disadvantages, may no longer apply for current generations.”

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Although older generations were found to see improved health and marriage, this diminished over generations.

The health benefits of marriage have been a subject of interest for researchers for decades, although opinions vary on the extent to which marriage makes us healthier.

“The difference between married and unmarried people in health and longevity has long been observed. But whether this difference is because marriage makes people healthier has been debated,” HuiLui, a professor of sociology at Michigan State University, told Healthline.

Lui has studied marital status and health. She says there are multiple arguments to be made both in favor and against marriage being beneficial to health.

“Married people usually have a greater access to economic resources than unmarried people because of pooled income… increased economic resources may promote health via purchasing healthier food, living in better neighborhoods, and accessing better quality healthcare,” Lui explained.

“A good marriage may provide a source of emotional and social support which may also promote health.

On the other side, involvement in a bad marriage may increase exposure to stress, and stress is a major health risk factor,” she told Healthline.

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