From BBC News:
People who never marry are far more likely to die prematurely than those who get hitched or divorced, say US researchers.
Bachelors aged between 19 and 44 were more than twice as likely to die as their married male peers.
The authors of the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Health say loneliness is the killer rather than alcohol or cigarettes.
Their work looked at data on 67,000 Americans between 1989 and 1997.
As with any social science research, we should be careful not to imply causality:
The researchers said: “Accumulated evidence suggests that social isolation increases the risk of premature death.
“Having never been married may be associated with more severe isolation because it is associated with greater isolation from children and other family.”
Alternatively, it might be that people who have underlying illnesses that threaten their health and shorten their life expectancy are deemed less suitable as marriage material.
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