Marriage, the Key to a Better Life

This  latest report on the benefits of marriage won’t be a surprise to First Things readers. But it’s encouraging to see that the findings of family researchers in America are being confirmed by Europeans:

Marriage cheers you up, improves your diet and helps you live longer, researchers say.

It brings better mental and physical health, reducing the chance of premature death by 15 per cent, according to major studies in seven European countries.

And the longer a marriage lasts the more the rewards accumulate – the only catch being that the relationship has to be loving and supportive.

John Gallacher, a Cardiff University academic who reviewed the European studies, said the happily married were more likely to eat healthily, have more friends and take better care of each other.