The Differences Between Married & Single People
To state the obvious, the major difference between married and single people would be a marriage. Single, or unmarried, people have a completely different lifestyle, ranging from different responsibilities to different emotions and lifestyles. The major difference between the two, though, is the presence or lack of presence of another, which alters a person's life in many unimaginable ways.
Other People Are Reading
-
Health
-
In the past, numerous studies indicate that married people are healthier than single people. Sociologists speculate that this is either because being married gives a person more social support and economic power to be healthy or because being divorced or widowed can hurt a person's mental and physical well being. However, a recent study by Hui Liu at Michigan State University found that the health gap between singles and married people is slowly closing, meaning that both singles and married people are becoming equally as healthy.
Wealth
-
In general, married people are more wealthy than singles. This takes into account a person's singular wealth, so if a family has a large combined wealth, it is divided among each person in the household. There is a debate about why married people make more money, but most people think that this is because married people are family-oriented, meaning that they are trying to make enough money to support people other than themselves.
-
Life Expectancy
-
In addition to better health and more wealth, married people have a longer life expectancy than singles. Single men have mortality rates that are 250 percent higher than married men, and single women have mortality rates that are 50 percent higher than married women. Whereas this may result from different types of lifestyles and responsibility to others, certain strange findings about marriage and health have yet to be explained, such as the fact that married individuals are less likely to get cancer than those who are unmarried.
Sexual Differences
-
Although being single may seem like the opportunity to be promiscuous and indiscriminate, studies show that sex between married couples is more frequent and better than that of singles. Approximately 40 percent of married couples have sex twice a week, while only 20 percent to 25 percent of singles have sex this often. During these encounters, a higher percentage of married women and men report that they are satisfied by their sexual encounters than that of singles.
-
References
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
