Tag Archives: cohabitation

Love and Marriage

Good and Bad Marriage, Boon and Bane to Health
By SHARON LERNER

In the early 1970’s, demographers began to notice a strange pattern in life span data: married people tended to live longer than their single, divorced and widowed counterparts. The so-called marriage benefit persists today, with married people generally less likely to have surgery and to die from all causes, including stroke, pneumonia and accidents. At its widest, the gap is striking, with middle-aged men in most developed countries about twice as likely to die if they are unmarried.

Many have argued that the difference in life expectancy is actually because healthier people are more likely to marry. But an emerging group of marriage advocates has put a spotlight on the medical potential of the institution. “Marriage is sort of like a life preserver or a seat belt,” argues Dr. Linda Waite, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and an author of “The Case for Marriage,” published in 2000. “We can put it in exactly the same category as eating a good diet, getting exercise and not smoking.”

But even as marriage is being packaged as a boon to health, there is a new caveat. While people in good, stable partnerships do, on average, have less disease and later death, mounting evidence suggests that those in strained and unhappy relationships tend to fare worse medically. Women seem to bear the brunt of marriage’s negative health consequences.

Even More on Marriage

There seems to have been a flurry of research related to the study of what makes for good marriages. The results are, I'm pleased to say, in accordance with natural law AND the teachings of the Catholic Church. It's time for the prodigal son (secular society) to come home after learning hard leasons in "the real world".

Couples Who Live Together Split Faster: Report
By Keith Mulvihill

"NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – New study findings show that marriage is indeed a tie that binds–or at least binds a bit tighter than cohabitation without matrimony."

"Couples who live together without marriage are twice as likely to split up 5 years after they move in together than couples who tie the knot, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). And similar to past research, the survey found that couples who lived together before marriage were also more likely to split than those who waited until after they got hitched."

"The report is based on a 1995 survey of nearly 11,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44."

More About Marriage

U.S. Compiles Divorce Statistics
By LAURA MECKLER

"One in three marriages will end in divorce during their first 10 years, with certain couples more likely to split up than others, a government survey finds. People who marry young, have less money, are not religious and whose parents are divorced are more likely to divorce themselves.Overall, by age 30, three in four women have been married and about half have lived with a partner outside marriage."

"Those are among the findings of an extensive survey of nearly 11,000 women ages 15 to 44 exploring factors influencing cohabitation, marriage and divorce. The survey, conducted in 1995 by the National Center for Health Statistics, focuses on a wide range of family and fertility issues and included only women. A new round of interviews being done now includes both men and women."

Divorce and premarital cohabitation are bad ideas? Gee, the Catholic Church has always maintained that. Amazing, ain't it? 😉

Ah…Natural Law

Cohabiting can make marriage an iffy proposition

Even married, men may still feel less committed

An expert addressing a “Smart Marriages” conference this week will drop research on his colleagues that may indeed make some Americans smart.

Researcher Scott Stanley’s case is this: Women living unmarried with guys and expecting a lasting, committed marriage down the line had better review their options. His research finds that men who cohabit with the women they eventually marry are less committed to the union than men who never lived with their spouses ahead of time.