Marriage benefits both men and women when it comes to emotional health. In other words, married people are happier than single people. Especially divorced, single people who are dealing with the fallout that accompanies the divorce process.
When marital problems rear their ugly head, most think first about divorce, not saving their marriage. Let’s face it, we live in a day and age of taking the easy way out. And, for some, divorce seems easier than putting effort into solving marital problems.
Those who seek divorce as the easy way out have never experienced divorce and are unaware of the fact that divorce is anything but the easy way out. Divorce, in most cases, doesn’t lessen marital conflict, it increases conflict!
There are benefits of marriage for you and your children that you lose if you choose to divorce. Taking the path of, what you believe, is the least resistant will rob you of those marital benefits.
I urge you if you are thinking about divorce, to reconsider. Especially if your marriage is absent of addiction, abuse and infidelity. There are many reasons to try and save your marriage instead of making a mad dash toward divorce court.
Below are 4 Benefits of Marriage That You’ll Lose Should You Divorce
1. Emotional Benefits of Marriage
Contrary to popular belief, marriage gives men and women an equal mental health boost.
In 1972, sociologist Jessie Bernard looked at symptoms of anxiety, depression, neurosis and passivity in married and unmarried people. She found that men were better off married than single and concluded that they got those benefits at the expense of women.
That became a central tenet of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s and is still often cited. But psychologist David de Vaus from La Trobe University in Melbourne points out that Bernard’s research only looked at a narrow definition of stress. “It is well known that women are much more likely to score highly on those disorders,” he says. Most research has ignored the fact that a mental disorder can manifest itself in men in the form of drug and alcohol abuse, de Vaus claims.
So, in conclusion, marriage benefits both men and women when it comes to emotional health. In other words, married people are happier than single people. Especially divorced, single people who are dealing with the fallout that accompanies the divorce process.
2. Marriage can make you look younger
Copenhagen, Denmark, Jan 30, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) — Danish researchers say a happy marriage and plenty of money can take years off of a person’s appearance.
The study, conducted by the University of Southern Demark, found that a married woman who has not spent much of the time in the sun could look at least seven years younger than a single woman. Also, marriage can make a woman look almost two years younger by the time she reaches middle age.
3. Financial reasons to stay married
Divorce often comes with a financial penalty: 47 percent of divorced people say divorce made their financial situation worse. In fact, respondents to the survey also reported that because of their divorce:
Children are affected financially as well. One poll found that 44 percent of people said it was extremely difficult to save for post-secondary education after divorce.
- 35 percent had to go into debt.
- 22 percent had to seek financial support from friends and family.
- 28 percent had to sell household items or personal assets; and.
- 27 percent had to sell or redeem financial investments.
4. Children of divorce are more likely to divorce
Children of divorced parents often vow not to repeat the same mistakes their parents did. They want to avoid putting themselves and their own children through the pain and stress that comes from divorce. But, according to University of Utah researcher Nicholas H. Wolfinger, these children’s aspirations face unfavorable odds.
“Growing up in a divorced family greatly increases the chances of ending one’s own marriage, a phenomenon called the divorce cycle or the intergenerational transmission of divorce,” says Wolfinger, assistant professor in the University of Utah’s Department of Family and Consumer Studies.
Wolfinger has spent a decade studying the marriages of children from divorced homes in America. These children are more likely to marry as teens, cohabitate and marry someone who is also a child of divorced parents. And they are also one-third less likely to marry if they are over age 20.
There are health, emotional and familial reasons to work on your marital problems instead of divorce. And, if you don’t believe me, talk to several divorced women. You will find that most are stressed out due to the financial burdens they carry. Haven’t found a new man who is better than the man they had and are overwhelmed with raising children on their own.
You don’t want to exchange one set of problems for another set of problems if there is a chance your marriage can be saved.