Benefits of Marriage Reduce over Time While Cohabiting Couples Experience Greater Happiness and Self Esteem
A new study, published in the Journal
of Marriage and Family reveals that married couples
experience few advantages for psychological well-being, health, or
social ties compared to unmarried couples who live together. While both
marriage and cohabitation provide benefits over being single, these
reduce over time following a honeymoon period.
“Marriage has long been an important social institution, but in recent
decades western societies have experienced increases in cohabitation,
before or instead of marriage, and increases in children born outside of
marriage,” said Dr Kelly Musick, Associate Professor of policy analysis
and management at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology. “These
changes have blurred the boundaries of marriage, leading to questions
about what difference marriage makes in comparison to alternatives.”
Previous research has sought to prove a link between marriage and
well-being, but many studies compared marriage to being single, or
compared marriages and cohabitations at a single point in time. This
study compares marriage to cohabitation while using a fixed-effects
approach that focuses on what changes when single men and women move
into marriage or cohabitation and the extent to which any effects of
marriage and cohabitation persist over time.
Dr Musick drew a study sample from the National Survey of Families and
Households (NSFH) of 2,737 single men and women, 896 of whom married or
moved in with a partner over the course of 6 years. The study focused on
key areas of well-being, considering questions on happiness, levels of
depression, health, and social ties.
The results showed a spike in well-being immediately following both
marriage and cohabitation as couples experienced a honeymoon period with
higher levels of happiness and fewer depressive symptoms compared to
singles. However, these advantages were short lived.
Marriage and cohabitation both resulted in less contact with parents and
friends compared to remaining single, and these effects appeared to
persist over time.
“We found that differences between marriage and cohabitation tend to be
small and dissipate after a honeymoon period. Also while married couples
experienced health gains – likely linked to the formal benefits of
marriage such as shared healthcare plans – cohabiting couples
experienced greater gains in happiness and self-esteem. For some,
cohabitation may come with fewer unwanted obligations than marriage and
allow for more flexibility, autonomy, and personal growth” said Musick.
“Compared to most industrial countries America continues to value
marriage above other family forms,” concluded Musick. “However our
research shows that marriage is by no means unique in promoting
well-being and that other forms of romantic relationships can provide
many of the same benefits.”
