Effects of marriage

Healthier people in marriages may have a better chance of having a successful marriage.[2] A healthier person may be more appealing to their partner. Married people are generally healthier than unmarried people.[2] It is said that marriage can affect person's health in many ways. For example, having a higher income could improve the health care person receives or lower stress. In certain marriages, a spouse may help in monitoring and encouraging healthy behaviors. As well as discouraging unhealthy habits. Marriage may provide an emotional fulfilling relationship. Which would satisfy the need for a social connection. This could have implications on a person's physical and mental health. Marriage is able to reduce depressive symptoms for both men and women. As marriage is able to reduce them, divorce is able to increase them.[2] Marriage can also be associated with less healthier behaviors. For example, alcohol consumption, drug use, cigarette smoking, diet, and exercise.[2]

In same-sex marriages, marriage has a more positive effect than negative. Single persons in the same-sex world happen to be more distressed.[3] In contrast to same-sex marriage, heterosexuals have the lowest psychological distress. Lesbians, gays, and bisexuals who are not in a legalized marriages have the highest psychological distress.[3] Marriage diminishes mental health issues between people in the same-sex community.[3] Children who are raised in such marriages grow with the same beneficial experiences when compared to children raised in heterosexual marriages. Science shows that there is no reason to deny such people marriage, however there is scientific research show there are adverse effects when denying heterosexual couples to marry.[4]

Polygamous marriages can have negative effects on women and are illegal in many countries. Many women experience feelings of neglect and jealousy.[5] Men, often, are not fair when it comes to equally splitting their time in these marriages, though they may desire to be. It is possible that women rarely see their husbands or have their needs met. This not only applies to women, but also their children.[5] The severity of the negative effects depend on the tolerance and patience of the wife. In more serious cases, it can range from depression, tantrums, or illness.[5] There are also pros for either sex when they are in a polygamas marriage.[6] For men, their sexual needs are met more fully, and society views the man as more successful. For women, it is a decrease in individual household chores and less pressure to provide many healthy and fit children. As a household, they have shown to have better choice and availability of food as well as they often times have healthier children.[7]

In opposition to men, women are more likely to get married and remarried. Women are also more likely to get married younger.[8] Caucasians marry at a higher rate, then Asian, Hispanic, American Indian and lastly African Americans; listed in decreasing order. For each race, marriage numbers jump immensely from ages 23-25.[9] In comparison to Hispanics and Whites, Blacks were less likely to get married and more likely to get divorced.[8] 70% of non-Hispanic Caucasian children and 59% of Hispanics reported to live with both parents. However, for African Americans only 1/3rd reported such findings.[10] People who did not complete high school were less likely to get married over people who did complete high school.[8] For those who achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher, 69% did not divorce and of those with such degrees 29.7% got divorces.[8] About 48% of those who graduated high school and/or got an Associate’s degree, got divorced. The more education one has, the later in life they are to get married.

As time goes on, many changes have affected divorce and marriage rates.[11] 2000 divorce was 4.0 per 1,000 people, 2015 down to 3.1 per 1,000, in 2018 it went down again to 2.9 per 1,000, and in 2020 it is 3.0 per 1,000.[8] Divorce rates decline as educational attainment increases. It is also said that people who marry later in life are less inclined to get divorced.[12] The Coronavirus disease has caused the divorce rates to jump an additional 34% compared to previous years in the United States.[13]

• Cohabitation
• Civil union
• Common-law marriage
• Domestic partnership