How Marriage Can Impact Life Expectancy

It seems that being single might give us the freedom and independence we desire, but it is marriage that has a stronger effect on our existence. Though there is no conclusive proof yet how much marriage actually impacts longevity, in all the research so far, marriage is consistently linked to increased life expectancy, with married individuals generally living longer than their single, divorced, or widowed peers, especially if there is a loving and positive atmosphere. This phenomenon, often referred to by researchers as the 'marriage protection effect', stems from a combination of health, social, and financial advantages.

Apparently married people tend to take fewer risks with their health and have better mental and emotional health because of their close connection. Marriage also provides more social and material support. Social in the form of increasing friendship networks and having someone there for you when things go wrong, and material in being able to pool resources and enjoy a better quality of living than being on one's own. 

For example, spouses often encourage healthier lifestyles, such as better nutrition, regular medical checkups, and medication consistency, while discouraging risky behaviours like excessive drinking or smoking. A supportive partnership also provides a built-in buffer against psychological stress, loneliness, and depression. Again, pooling household income and shared resources usually leads to higher socio-economic stability, which enables better access to quality healthcare, safer housing, and superior living conditions.

On the whole, one can say that the life expectancy of a married couple is enhanced because of the security in being together, the love and affection they share and the emotional and material support they afford each other. The benefits are not uniform, however. Studies show the protective effect is significantly stronger for men than for women, and the quality of the marriage is the ultimate deciding factor. For example, a high-conflict or unhappy marriage can cause chronic stress that negatively impacts personal health and cancels out any lifespan advantage.

How the Benefits of Marriage Differ for the Sexes

For example, in a study involving 3000 married men and women in Australia**, researchers found that married men live longer than unmarried men, and that the stronger women - regarded as physically, emotionally, and financially more stable - did not feel the need to get married and often did not marry at all. For them, survival was a way of life. They were happy looking out for themselves and thereby lived longer, whereas men who were less strong in the same aspects, and who did not marry, were more likely to be unhappy and tend to live shorter lives. In essence, the more successful a man was, the more likely he was to get married. A successful career and the strong family support that he presumably got at home gave him greater confidence and self-esteem and made the quality of his life better, allowing him to enjoy life more than his unmarried counterparts. 

Women tend to more loving, caring, emotional, and nurturing. Hence when a man gets married, he gets an unconditional access to these feminine qualities that he may lack, or have in short supply. By being married, he taps into nurturing atmosphere which ensures a better quality of life for him. Since this improves after he marries, he tends to live longer. Women already possess these qualities, so the addition or subtraction of men from the equation does not make as big an impact on their life expectancy.

However, against all this positive bliss one has to count the effects of any stress that is likely to creep into the union when any two strangers get together and have to acclimatise to each other. Stress connected to arguments, unfulfilled expectations, resentment, frustrations, physical or domestic violence, psychological turmoil or sheer unhappiness, where one or both partners find themselves in a bad marriage, would impact negatively on the the life expectancy of both sexes, eventually taking its toll on both partners.

What this does suggest is that if a marriage is very loving, affirming and reinforcing it is likely to impact positively on the longevity of a couple, enhancing their lives in ways that are not enjoyed by single people. However, if it is a negative existence, where there is a lot of stress and unhappiness, it is likely to have the opposite effect.

**Source: Liu H, Umberson DJ. The times they are a changin’: marital status and health differentials from 1972 to 2003.  J Health Soc Behav 49(3), 2008.