Marriage is Good for Health

Abstract

Traditionally, marriage has been seen as the central institution in legitimising and regulating sex in almost all societies. It was regarded not only as the norm for most people but also as a permanent arrangement. Couples were expected to stay together — in good times and in bad, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health — throughout their lives. Church leaders, politicians and social analysts defended the permanency of marriage by pointing to its economic and psychological benefits for both the individual and society. However, this view of marriage has been increasingly challenged in modern western society. Undermined internally by the sex-role revolution and externally by the rise of non-traditional family living patterns, such as co-habitation and single/never married parenthood, the institution of marriage no longer holds prime position as the best way of defining sexual relationships. Thus, in spite of its positive image in the past, marriage is no longer regarded as either a preferred or permanent way of life by an increasing number of people.