6 sociological reasons not to marry

Marriage - a healthy state - wrote the British physician William Farr in 1858 in one of the first studies in which states that married people feel better than their single counterparts. "Single most likely to crash in his journey." Subsequent decades, people continued to argue with sociologists and argue that lonely people can not be so bad. And only in 2017 did it prove!

1. Now married wants to join, only half of the total population

In 2017, the Census Bureau reported that a record number of adults in the US were not married. More than 110 million people have been divorced or widowed, or have always been alone - more than 45 percent of all Americans aged 18 years and older. The median age at first marriage rose to 29, 5 and 27 for men, 4 for women. The trend is likely to continue.

Life alone is becoming more popular. Historians say that the analysis of data for half a century, this trend is observed in the 78 countries of the world. In Russia, everything is similar: according to the report of the HSE "Demoscope Weekly", in the second half of 1990 "to respond adequately to the political and social changes, the Russians at the grassroots level sharply outlined rejection of the previous model with respect to early marriage."

2. Marriage is no longer maturity means

Half a century ago, it was assumed that if you are not married - then not yet matured. Now, according to the polls, it is no longer a criterion of growing up, as well as having a baby. Currently, more important conclusion of formal training and a serious career - it said 95% of respondents.

3. Teens want good relationships, not casual sex

In a study published in the autumn of 2017, psychologists Jean Tweng and Pak Hidzhun analyzed data for four decades and found that the percentage of adolescents who have ever been on a date, was the lowest in recent years of the study. Today's teens less interested in sex on the first date - they give priority to the search for common interests and similar views on the future.

4. bachelors more sex

As for people over 18, the researchers found that people now have sex about nine times more than the average person in the early 90s. Of course, not all values ​​were located on the same path - the value varied for those who were married or were divorced. Nevertheless, one can say with certainty that people without a permanent relationship more sex than married.

In this case, there are people who do not have sex, in principle, because they do not experience sexual attraction. And in 2017 it was officially recognized as a unique sexual orientation, which occurs in 3% of the population has nothing to do with sexual dysfunction or mental disorders.

5. The relationship does not mean self-esteem

Teens shrug, not understanding why they need to enter into a relationship, and adults lay their marriage later. Skeptics believe that this is due to problems with self-esteem, but that's only the researchers say the opposite: Eva K. Luciano and Ulrich Orth studied more than 9,000 adults in Germany, where they start and end the relationship. The beginning of the relationship improves self-esteem, and then only when the relationship is well functioning, stable and persist at least for a certain period of time - a year or more. Self-esteem of people who started a new relationship, but could not hold the year was lower than that of people who did not initially entered into a long term relationship. There was nothing magical about marriage. People who become spouses, did not have more self-esteem than those who stayed in romantic relationships, without tying the knot.

6. The marriage did not improve the health of

Part of the mythology of marriage is that people who have entered into conjugal relations are healthier than when they were alone. There is a certain logic: the husband and wife receive support each other and make sure that your partner time to decide the question of health. But three large methodologically sophisticated study, published in 2017, disproved this idea.

Author Randa Kutob and her colleagues also conducted repeated physical measurements waist size women, body mass index and blood pressure and asked them about smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise and eating habits. Women who are married, gained weight and drink more than those who remained alone. Diluted follow a diet had a pronounced waist, but started smoking. In another study, sociologist Dmitry Tumin interviewed 12 000 people who married for the first time, gathering information about their health before and after the wedding. The study was divided into several parts: the state of married men; analysis of the marriage between people born in different decades; marriages that lasted for one and the same time. In all scenarios, any married man did not say that he became healthier.

For a long time we were told that it cost to get married, or stay helpless and miserable. Now, however, social scientists are willing to admit that if you live comfortably one, then you probably will live much longer and healthier. Research on your side.