Marriage Statistics

Are Married People More Successful?

Does your marital status affect your success at work? Numerous studies and books, such as The Case For Marriage by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher, say yes -- but the findings are not always what you would expect. Here is a look at some of the myths and realities surrounding the relationship between marriage and success.

Reality: Married Men and Women Get Paid More Married men hold higher positions, get promoted more often and receive better performance appraisals than single men. Additionally, married white women earn four percent more and married black women earn 10 percent more than their single peers.

Myth: Successful Women are Usually Single While it is true that marriage rates among highly-educated professional women are slightly lower than for the rest of the female population, this so-called "success gap" is shrinking and is expected to disappear completely by 2010. University of Washington economist Elaina Rose points out that between 1980 and 2000:
- marriage rates for women with a high school education declined five percentage points to 91 percent;- marriage rates for women with a college education declined five percentage points to 88 percent, however- marriage rates for women with three years of graduate school increased three percentage points to 86 percent!
Rose credits this to a shift in the marriage model away from a partnership of complementary skills and ambitions to a partnership of equals.

Reality: Employers Prefer Male Candidates Who Are Married All things equal, employers are more likely to hire a married male over a single male, as many still suspect single men of being less settled and more reluctant to handle responsibility. Research does not entirely support this view. For example, while studies did find that married men are less likely to miss work, arrive late, quit or be fired, they also indicate that single people generally put in longer hours and are more devoted to their work.

Myth: Married People are More Creative A study of 280 successful scientists found that their creativity tended to diminish once they got married. This also held true for musicians, painters and authors.

Reality: Married People Report Better Mental Health Married people are much happier than any other group of people, and they report lower levels of depression and distress. Forty percent say they are "very happy" with their lives, compared to 25 percent of single people. And those who are married are half as likely to say they are unhappy with their lives.
Marriage is especially beneficial to the mental health of men. Married men are half as likely to commit suicide as single men and one third as likely as divorced men.

Myth: Single People Take Better Care of Themselves It's a common joke that men and women "let themselves go" once they tie the knot, yet studies show the reverse. Married people are less likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse.
Thanks to wives' nagging, married men also are less likely to catch colds and more likely to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol and weight than their single counterparts.

Reality: Married People Live Longer Mortality rates for single men are 250 percent higher than for married men, while mortality rates for single women are 50 percent higher than married women. Based on life expectancies, nine of 10 married men and women alive at 48 are alive at 65, while only six of 10 single men and eight of 10 single women make it to 65.

The Case for Marriage On balance, research indicates that marriage has a strong positive effect on career success and life fulfillment -- especially for men. It also shows that women no longer need to sacrifice their education and career aspirations to improve their chances of getting married.