a new study published in AJPH indicates that adults who are cohabitating have midlife health outcomes that are similar to adults in formal marriages. So in terms of the benefits specific to marriage, we can probably strike "longer, healthier life" from the list.
The study in question used 10,000 subjects from the British national Child Development Study, a birth cohort study that includes all people born in Britain during one week in March 1958. Participants were able to select their partnership status as married, cohabitating, or single. Health was measured using blood and inflammatory biomarkers, as well as respiratory capacity. The researchers controlled for previous socioeconomic status, previous health status, educational attainment, income, employment, and other demographic variables.
The study's results varied by gender. Among men, those who had never married/cohabitated displayed poorer overall health than men who were married during the observation period. By contrast, not marrying or cohabitating had less of a detrimental effect on women than on men. For women, the timing of the marriage mattered. Those who were married in their late 20s or early 30s had the overall best health, beating out both women who had married in their early 20s and women were never married/cohabitating.
Does co-habitating with cats or dogs count?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 12 2015, @11:07PM
>Cohabitation
Family law firms must be feeling the crunch from the rapid shift from everyone getting married then divorced, to no one getting married.
I wont open my bank account to modern women no matter how healthy it may be.
Cohabitation will inevitably result in alimony, even without marriage.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday August 13 2015, @01:17AM
Cats and dogs can't sue for alimony. They probably can't even call a lawyer what with their paws fat-fingering the keypad and all.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday August 13 2015, @04:27AM
You're wrong about them using the phone, at least with cats:
http://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/water-cooler/zeke-the-cat-calls-911-from-cat-depot-animal-rescue-facility-in-florida- [abc15.com]
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10663270/ns/us_news-weird_news/t/hero-cat-apparently-dials-help-owner/ [nbcnews.com]
http://sampost.com/buy-confessions-of-a-tabloid-writer/cat-saves-owner [sampost.com]