'Myth' that marriage makes you happy

Marriage may be overrated, with the idea that it has health and happiness advantages over living together largely a myth, researchers say.

Even the "honeymoon period" of wellbeing that sets both married and cohabiting couples apart from singletons is short-lived, scientists claim.
They also suggest time and money devoted to promoting marriage might be better spent elsewhere.

Previous research has linked marriage to happiness and health, arguing that couples who wed tend to live longer, more contented lives.
But these studies largely focused on comparisons with being single, or relied on "snapshots" of how people fared at specific points in time. The new research tracked long-term progress of relationships.

The sample included 2,737 single men and women, 896 of whom married or moved in with a partner over the course of six years. The team from Cornell University in New York concluded: "Once individual differences are taken into account, marriage is far from a blanket prescription for individual wellbeing.

"Recent campaigns to promote marriage are based on the assumption that marriage will improve wellbeing, and in a context of scarce resources, they divert time and money away from other policy levers."