Are Married People Are Happier?

By: Mary Cipriani, LMFT

Adam was the bomb! He had everything he needed in the garden with the Creator himself, what more could he have needed?  Evidently God did not think that was enough. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that God created woman from the side of man so that man would not be alone. Now let's look what modern day science is telling us.

Maggie Gallagher explains, "The evidence from four decades of research is surprisingly clear: a good marriage is both men's and women's best bet for living a long and healthy life." We can now see the research on this is very strong.

Leading social scientist, James Q. Wilson, explains: "Married people are happier than unmarried ones of the same age, not only in the United States, but in at least seventeen other countries where similar inquiries have been made. And there seems to be good reasons for that happiness. People who are married not only have higher incomes and enjoy greater emotional support, they tend to be healthier. Married people live longer than unmarried ones, not only in the United States but abroad."

For more information see: Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially, (New York Doubleday, 2000), p. 64.   And, James Q. Wilson, The Marriage Problem: How Our Culture Has Weakened Families (New York: Harper Collins, 2002), p. 16.