Legally Married U.S. Couples Live Longer than Unmarried Couples…If They’re White, but not Black

Sunday, July 22, 2012
Being married, as compared to merely cohabitating with one’s partner, allows both mates to live longer, but whites benefit far more than African-Americans, according to a recently released study authored by two sociologists. Put another way, those who cohabitate with a mate live longer than those living alone or with a roommate regardless of race, but marriage reduces mortality only for white cohabiters, while blacks gain no extra benefit. The study, in the Journal of Marriage and Family, is the first to document mortality differences between cohabiters and married people across racial groups in the United States.
 
The authors, Professors Hui Liu of Michigan State University and Corinne Reczek of the University of Cincinnati, noted that previous studies had compared married people to all others—cohabiters, widows, widowers, divorcees, and the never-married—without asking whether those who cohabitate without marriage might get some of the benefits of marriage. Their conclusion, that married blacks don’t appear to live any longer than cohabiting blacks, “implies that marriage and cohabitation have very different meanings for blacks and whites,” said sociologist Hui Liu.
 
Liu said these numbers indicate that whites are more likely to see cohabitation as a trial marriage, which may mean that cohabitation would yield lower levels of shared social, psychological and economic resources. In contrast, the greater prevalence of cohabitation among blacks suggests blacks are more likely to see cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, with similar benefits accruing to the couple.
 
Wealth and income disparities along racial lines, as discussed in a recent AllGov report, likely play a major role, because one of the primary benefits of marriage arises from economic cooperation. With black unemployment rates nearly twice those of whites, black men earning only 71% of what white men earn and white median wealth now 44.5 times higher than black median wealth, there are fewer financial benefits for marriage to provide the average black couple.
 
The number of Americans who cohabitate has increased dramatically in the past 50 years–from 400,000 in 1960 to 7.6 million in 2011, and the study data, derived from health surveys of nearly 200,000 people taken from 1997 to 2004, also confirms that blacks cohabitate at nearly twice the rate of whites.
-Matt Bewig
 
To Learn More
Marriage has Different Meanings for Blacks and Whites (by Andy Henion, Michigan State University)

Comments

Sharon Brooks Hodge 12 years ago
this study does not convince me that marriage fails to promote health benefits for black couples. i agree with the post on the black family-gram blog that cited research from the national marriage project and the institute for american values, which put out the third edition of why marriage matters. that study concluded that “marriage seems to be associated with better health among minorities and the poor.” why marriage matters did not look at the length of life for the determination. instead, the measurement was the quality of health. “african-american and latino adults who are married are less likely to be in poor health, to have activity limitations, to smoke, to have a drinking problem, and to suffer serious psychological distress compared to cohabitating, never-married, divorced and widowed adults who were african american or latino.” the research used in why marriage matters also concluded that children who live with their own married parents face lower risk of infant mortality, as well as enjoy better physical health and a longer life expectancy.
Amy 12 years ago
what about women? i have read elsewhere that the only group to benefit from marriage is men. based on other data, including the study in this article, one can hypothesize that only white men benefit. they benefit because they make more money as a result of unearned privilege, so they can afford to have a wife who works part-time or just 40 hours a week (and/or works as an unpaid mother and house servant), and she has time to take care of his psychological and healthcare needs and urge him to go to the doctor when necessary.

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