Study: Couples Living Together Are Happier Than Married Couples

In general, if you are cohabiting and get unhappy, you move out (and would no longer be included in the "cohabiting" group for this study). If you are married and get unhappy, you are still committed to the other person and try to work through it. It's not hard to see why such a shallow study would show that the people who are still cohabiting are happier ON AVERAGE than the married people, because a good bit of the people who are unhappy with their own cohabitation would no longer have been included in the study.

It's also true that once people get married, more responsibilities can be heaped upon them by OTHER PEOPLE.

I didn't get married for "happiness benefits over a 6 year period." I got married to love my wife over a lifetime.

While a agree for the most part. I am beginning to wonder if the test subjects are one uping one another. One study shows married couples are happier while another says cohabitating couples are happier and still another shows that singles are happier. Why are we trying to determine who is happier. Let everybody be happy with their decisions and stop wasting time and money on studies that are mostly meant to depress those who don't come out on top.

The latest information I had was that you live longer if you are married. So if marriage was a bad thing causing stress, unhappiness, etc. how could you live longer? Stress causes your body to get sick. Sometimes I think there is a conspiracy against marriage and "they" are doing everything they can to sway people against marriage. As a Christian we know that marriage is a bond ordained by God for a reason and there are some who don't want that bond because of the spiritual ramifications.

Wow, I thought most moms wanted their daughters married. The reason co-habbitation (shacking up) appeals to so many is when the fun is gone they can leave. It has gotten to be the same for marriage. A real marriage requires commitment not just while the happiness lasts. It is done with talking and listening giving 100% when the spouse can't, and accepting their 100% when you can't. It is give and take, and compromise, it is working as hard to keep your marriage good and healthy as people put into getting a divorce. It is not easy, and no one said it would be. Marriage is a bed of roses if you remember that to get to the beautiful wonderful parts (the flowers) you have to get past the thorns. 29 years and it gets better everyday.

This article sucks - you can't compare cohabitation to marriage in a six year time span. The benefits of marriage are way more long term than that. Sure you can be happy in a cohabitation in the short term, but what happens when times get rough... Let's fast forward in the relationships 30 years. Are the cohabitating couples still together, if so, did they get married? Are they happier after 30 years or just the same?

How come there was a story on Yahoo a couple of weeks ago that told the exact opposite?

sounds good in theory, but from someone who lived with various boyfriends,the longest being 9 ys off and on(dysfunctional), and 5 years.After living with the last guy for 3 yrs, we got married.Maybe only a piece of paper, and some vows, but completely changed the dynamic ,stressful at first, but in the long hall, definately for the better,its been 15 yrs of a learning experience

But a study has been done that says people that live together before Marriage, have a much higher Divorce rate than if you had not lived together.

It's because in marriage, you have to be selfless. It also requires a lot of work and a strong committment. In this day and age, people don't want to put forth the effort. It's all about them, not all about us. A lot of people can't committ to anything these days. They get bored too easily and don't know how to stick it out, so they move on to the next thing. It's like that in many aspects of life these days; with jobs, with relationships, with a variety of things. We have also become a self centered society. If it's more convenient for you and all about you and your needs, why ruin it? That seems to be the consensus. Why should you have to make a committment to someone? You're too busy with yourself. Why should you be tied down? It's all about you! Marriage isn't so. Therefore, it doesn't agree with a lot of people. People want their cake and want to eat it too.

The logic of the claims in the above report is flawed and narrow minded at best. If you REALLY care about someone why would you not get married? I would want the world to know how proud of my spouse I am that I would risk it all for her. Marriage is not just a man and woman living in harmony, its a man an a woman making a lifetime proclamation of commitment to each other. Then again love as "sacrifice" scares people nowadays so I'm not surprised.

You also have to realize that sampling size in this study is 0.00001 % of the US population and they do not comment on the diversity of the selected population. This is in itself a sign of skewed statistics. I'm sure it is not hard to find 2,737 people with a chip on their shoulder about authentic marriage in this country. They would make a great case for those that want to haul the institution of marriage out to the curb.

This is one of those debates no one is going to win. What works for one couple doesn't necessarily work for the next. What gets me is how up at arms many of the posters here are about this... their way is right and anyone's opinion who differs is wrong. Maybe if we all worked a little harder at trying accept each others differences and being a little more tolerant, relationships would be healthier and last longer regardless of marriage or cohabitation.

I'm married and unhappy BECAUSE I don't live with my husband :(

It would be interesting to me to interview those same people after the relationship has ended and they move out.

Yahoo needs to get new writers. -.-

Still comes down to do what is right for you and your partner.

Life is what you make of it. If you are an unhappy person going into any relationship, you will be an unhappy person during it...... People need to be happy with themselves before they can be happy with another person, whether married or not.

Don't even have to read this....another "expert" writing nonsense. Whether you have a marriage contract or not. Couples should ask themselves before they commit to marriage....are we compatible in the important aspects to live together. You can love someone but really dislike the person after a time together. What is missing in so many marriages in this era is those important decisions the two people should ask before they commit to a marriage contract or live together. I have been married for 33 yrs and it is my second marriage. I was not mature enough and knowledgeable enough the first time. I was in love with the idea of being married and living happily ever after. Today there are few couples who seriously look at what a committment is and what it should be, especially involving children and the possibility of children. In my case, my husband and I have a strong belief in God. Because of this and our commitment to each other....our marriage is strong. Thank you.

If this were true, and I doubt it is, cohabitating partners may be happier because they feel they are not tied to the other person. They know they can leave thier life for a new lover at any moment and it carries less psychological and other trauma than a married situation. However, married people bieng miserable becasue they cut themselves off from life other than what life they have built with thier partner is probably right. Anytime you dissassociate your self as a seperate entity in the world you would be unhappy. The happiest married couples I know have as much seperate life and they have together... and nothing is wrong with that. Jealousy would be the problem here. You have to be able to accept that although you are the first thing in your partners life, you may not always be first in his/her daily activities and life, but when you get home it's a different story. You have to be well balanced and have a life with all the people you love. God made us that way. On the other hand, most cohabitating couple I know face underlying issues. Like, "What is wrong with me?" "Am I not worht commiting to?" Etc. Just be smart and compromise :)

I really don't feel that the results of this "study" have anything to do with marriage vs single vs living together, those are superficial. I think these results speak better to accountability. There is a lot of accountability for your actions when speaking of marriage, Legal accountability. In a marriage, the law holds you accountable for your choices and actions. That's gone in an unmarried situation or at best, harder to navigate. This "it's not my problem", "I'll just walk away from it", "it's not my fault", "I didn't do it", "It doesn't matter what you think", inconsiderate behavior is found in EVERY part of life now a days.
Most of this generation has only seen their own home lives destroyed by divorce or other types of interpersonal craziness. It definitely leaves a sour taste towards marriage. I agree with the people making comments about "Generation Me". However, who raised that generation to be that way? Who allowed that to happen? Parent, accountable? (yes their are always exceptions, I'm going on the prevailing notion)
Again, do all the studies you want on all the ridiculous "this vs that" as your measure.... when it comes down to the heart of it, this is just more mindless babble (not news) to give someone to write about on the internet. Who cares what everyone else is doing... What are YOU doing? Are YOU happy with your life choices? Do they work for YOU?. That's what matters. Can we change the name of these type of "studies" to "random polls", I think the word "study" apprizes too much credit to this time of thing.

I disagree. I have been o nboth sides of the fence and being married and living together is the best way to go. It's what you make of it, not the opinion of others.