• Married men have stronger employment status than cohabiting men.
• Men’s productivity increases by 27 percent as a result of marrying.
• Intact married families have the largest annual income of all family structures with children under 18.
• Among family structures with dual earners, married households in which both spouses are in the paid workforce have the largest income.
• Men enjoy a larger “wage premium” (the financial gain men enjoy when they join a female partner) when they marry rather than cohabit.
• The marriage premium produces an annual income increase of approximately .9 percent.
• Married individuals often qualify for discounts or family rates on car, health and homeowners insurance.
• Married families receive various and significant tax benefits.
• Marriage can raise one’s credit score.
• Intact married families have the highest net worth of all families with children under 18.
• Married households enjoyed net worth growth $3,000-17,000 higher (over two years) than did other family structures, according to 1992-2006 data.
• Living in an intact married family decreases one’s likelihood of becoming a criminal.
• Adolescents from intact families are less delinquent and commit fewer violent acts of delinquency.
• Compared to teenagers from intact families, teenagers from divorced families are more verbally aggressive and violent toward their romantic partners.
• Married men are less likely to murder their partner than cohabiting men are, and married women are less likely to be killed by their spouse than cohabiting women are to be killed by their partner.
• In arguments, married couples are less likely to react physically (to hit, shove, or throw items) than cohabiting couples are.
• Married parents are less likely to neglect or abuse their children than are divorced or separated parents.
• Children in intact married families suffer less child abuse than children from any other family structure, and children are less likely to be injured or killed by abuse in the intact married family than in all other family structures.
162 Reasons To Marry (February 8, 2012) Marri Research, Marriage & Religion Research Institute
marri.us/reasons-to-marry.