Marriage Matters. Or Does It?

Abstract

Married couples generally experience higher levels of subjective wellbeing than cohabiting couples or single people, though the relationship between wellbeing and partnering is context-specific. Marriage has different benefits for different demographic and subgroups and varies by gender, nativity, birth region, and country contexts. We find that across several measures of socioeconomic wellbeing, married individuals show better outcomes than their cohabiting counterparts and single individuals. Married individuals are more likely to be employed, own a home, and have access to emergency funds, net of various socioeconomic and demographic controls. These advantages remain even when we consider their outcomes after they have transitioned to marriage controlling for unobserved and observed bias. We find no substantive differences in health and wellbeing across individuals of different marital statuses. We conclude that policies aimed at supporting individuals to achieve fulfilling lives must recognise increased diversity in partnership arrangements and provide strong supports to those who choose not to pursue traditional marital arrangements.