It has long been said that marriage is good for you. It not only helps people live longer, but having a lifelong partner in crime has also been found to keep people feeling on the up and up when it comes to their emotional and physical health. A 2011 study found that marriage lowers someone's risk of an early death by 15 percent and a 2010 study found that married people are far less likely to suffer from depression than those who are single. But while this research proves to be great news for both married men and women, according to a new study, men benefit from marriage more than women do.
The study, by three London universities of 10,000 people (all born in the same week in 1958), found that while unmarried men suffer from ailments, especially as they got older, women remain pretty much unaffected by their marital status. Although unmarried women are more likely to suffer from breathing problems later in life, overall, their bodies and brains are totally fine with having not ever tied the knot. Men, however, basically need marriage to stay alive.
Here are six ways marriage isn’t the same for men and women.
1. Married Women Aren’t Any More Healthy Than Single Women
Aside from the greater likelihood of respiratory issues in unmarried women as mentioned above, the study found that when it comes to metabolic syndrome, a delightful combo of diabetes, obesity, and blood pressure, middle aged married women have the same chance to come down with it as middle aged single women.
2. Unmarried Men Are More Likely To Get Heart Disease
As the study found, while the biomarker for breathing problems didn’t change much for single women and married women, it did find that the biomarker for heart problems in men went up by 14 percent. This is very much in line with the previous studies that confirm that single men are three times more likely to suffer from heart disease than married men.
3. Men Don’t Initially Deal With Divorce Very Well
While the study found that both men and women could get by without any major health issues after a divorce, provided they find a new partner, it did find that after the initial breakup men experience a decline in health. But, according to the researchers, in due time they can get back to their pre-divorce health and be feeling all shiny and new again.
4. Women Who Divorce In Their Late 20s Are Healthier Than Women Who Stay Married
If a woman in her mid to late 20s decides to divorce, the study found that her odds of getting metabolic syndrome were 31 percent lower than women who stayed in their marriage. In calling it quits early on, they're keeping themselves healthier than if they dealt with a marriage less than awesome.
5. Men Who Get Divorced In Their 30s Are Less Likely To Get Diabetes
Although the study proved over and over again that marriage was the best thing for keeping men healthy, it did find that men who divorced in their late 30s and didn’t remarry were less likely to get diabetes than married men once they reach their middle age.
6. Married Men Financially Benefit From Marriage More Than Married Women
According to a 2013 study, not only do married men make more money than their single counterparts, but they even make that money if they marry earlier on in life. Women, on the other hand, have to get married later in life, before they’ll make more money than unmarried women. Gender pay gap, anyone?
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