Advantages of Being Married

Marriage offers several advantages.

Getting married is easy; staying married is difficult. Love is not the only reason that people get married. Some couples have arranged marriages, while others have marriages of convenience. But in most cases, love is the most important reason that people get married. A good marriage takes dedication, commitment and hard work from both partners. If both spouses nurture and feed their marriage using a recipe that contains plenty of love, devotion and mutual respect, both can enjoy the advantages that married life offers.

1. Physical Health Benefits
• According to Dr. Scott Haltzman, clinical assistant professor of the department of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, marriage is so healthy that married couples have a significantly lower mortality rate between the ages of 45 and 65. Additionally, Dr. Haltzman states that on average, married men with heart disease live four years longer than unmarried men with healthy hearts. Results for women are similar.

Mental Health Benefits

• Fewer married people suffer from depression than single people, resulting in significantly lower suicide rates, according to ForYourMarriage.org. A social survey, taken by the National Opinion Research Center in 1998, indicated that twice as many married people reported being happy as unmarried people.

Financial Benefits

• Being married can save money, since working married couples generally pool resources to pay for things like food, utilities, rent and entertainment. Many people don't realize that being married can also save you money on your vehicle and home insurance. In addition, marriage permits spouses to participate in one health plan rather than two individual plans, resulting in substantial yearly savings.

Companionship

• Being married give you someone to talk about your day with, whether it's the ups, the downs or the in-betweens. People who experience particularly stressful days at work can reduce anxiety by sharing their concerns with a supportive spouse. Alternatively, good news can be even better when you have someone to share it with. Other companionable advantages include traveling together; having one spouse to nurse the other back to health when illness strikes and always having a date for weddings and Valentine's Day.

Cohabitation

Cohabitation appeals to young and old for a number of reasons, including:

? It's great for those turned off by casual sex and who want a committed relationship, but do not feel ready to get married

? It offers financial benefits (for example, the pooling of incomes, and avoidance of paying higher income taxes)

? It provides companionship.

? It's a way to test compatibility before tying the knot.

? For same-sex couples who are banned from getting married, it may be the only option.

? In some states and countries, cohabitation is regarded as common-law marriage if you have lived together for a certain amount of time and have a child.

? It promises a more even split of the housework than that carried out by married couples.

Cohabitation is also attractive to those who don't want their commitment to be matter of legal record. Some people have philosophical objections to involving government ? or religion ? in their affairs. It can also help couples in guarding their money; for example, single seniors could lose their economic benefits if they remarry. Not marrying further prevents any disagreements that can spring up around inheritance arrangements if lovers have grown children from previous relationships. Finally, some people just don't see a need to get hitched.

But some harsh realities need to be acknowledged for those who choose not to go the "'till death do you part" route.

? In the U.S. and Great Britain, the divorce rate is slightly higher among those who cohabitated before marriage than for couples who didn't. (Interestingly, this is not the case in France or Germany.)

? Data show that those who cohabitate are more likely, on average, to experience infidelity and domestic violence than married couples.

? In general, married couples in Western Europe and North America are happier, healthier, and better protected against economic setbacks and psychological depression than those in other living arrangements. It must be pointed out, however, that individuals in unhappy marriages are more psychologically distressed than the unmarried and do not have same health benefits, especially if you're the woman in the relationship.

? Finally, in societies around the world, marriage is regarded as the highest expression of commitment. And with that come much clearer rules as to the expectations of responsibility, intimacy and fidelity involved. With a marriage, you don't run the risk of a union being treated as something temporary or makeshift.

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 552