New research shows marriage holds the key to happiness

[Michie]

After surveying thousands of respondents, University of Chicago data not surprisingly revealed a startling 30-percentage-point happiness divide between married and unmarried Americans.

(LifeSiteNews) — The institution of marriage has been maligned, redefined, and condemned as an outdated and repressive institution that is fundamentally outdated in our post-Christian society. Increasingly, people are getting married much later — or not at all. And yet virtually every data set reveals, time and again, that marriage and family make people fundamentally unhappier. New research has affirmed once again that Americans who are married with children are happier and more prosperous than those who are single and childless — and that “nothing currently predicts happiness in life better than a good marriage.” From Unherd:

This truth is borne out yet again in new research from the University of Chicago, which found that marriage is the “the most important differentiator” of who is happy in America, and that falling marriage rates are a chief reason why happiness has declined nationally. The research, surveying thousands of respondents, revealed a startling 30-percentage-point happiness divide between married and unmarried Americans. This happiness boost held true for both men and women.
“Marital status is and has been a very important marker for happiness,” researcher Sam Peltzman concludes. “The happiness landslide comes entirely from the married. Low happiness characterizes all types of non-married. No subsequent population categorization will yield so large a difference in happiness across so many people.”

Again, this should not be surprising. Data set after data set affirms this fact — research also indicatesthat religious conservatives who wait to have sex have the happiest marriages, and that couples who do not live together before marriage are more likely to have a successful marriage.

In other words, the closer we adhere to God’s plan for marriage the happier we are likely to be. In fact, Peltzman states that happiness has declined since 2000, and that the “recent decline in the married share of adults can explain (statistically) most of the recent decline in overall happiness.” Peltzman concurs with Dr. Jean Twenge’s analysisof the General Social Survey, which found that the “decline in marriage among working-class and poor Americans is one of the biggest factors explaining the growing happiness divide between the privileged and unprivileged.”

Continued below.

New research shows marriage holds the key to happiness - LifeSite

After surveying thousands of respondents, University of Chicago data not surprisingly revealed a startling 30-percentage-point happiness divide between married and unmarried Americans.

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[mourningdove~]

"In other words, the closer we adhere to God’s plan for marriage the happier we are likely to be."

Definitely.

Having been in a good marriage, I did have to learn that there is such a thing as a 'bad' marriage ...
where one or the other or both are abusing each other in a spiritually detrimental way ...
where it is better for persons to part, than to stay together and destroy each other ...
and I no longer believe it is God's will, that persons stay together "no matter what".

But yes, for many I do believe "marriage holds the key to happiness" in this life.

 

[RileyG]

Fascinating.

 

[mourningdove~]

New research shows marriage holds the key to happiness

You know, I think it's important to remember that not all persons are 'called' to marriage.

Inbetween my two marriages, I remained a widow for many years.
And during those years, my personal relationship with the Lord was truly formed and developed.
It was priority #1 with me. I had no desire to date, find another husband, etc.
My desire was for walking with the Lord, discovering His plans for my life, serving Him.
And I was happy in that mode.

Many people did not understand how I could be happy, if not married or in a relationship.
But for those 'called' to it, even if just for a season, real happiness can be experienced in making the Lord one's 'primary' relationship.
I suspect this is how many in religious vocations feel. Their love is for the Lord.

This article is about marriage. For most people, the married relationship probably works best for them. It is God's design, for many.
But also does He design some to find happiness outside a marriage relationship ... and I can attest to that.