Mental Health

Married Couples Are Happier, Study

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Jan 14, 2014 11:40 AM EST

Marriage really does make people happier. British researchers discovered that married couples are happier than cohabiting couples.

The government study of 5,000 couples revealed that married couples are more content than those who live together. However, they experience greater doubts than unmarried couples about their relationship.

The study found that married couples also rate themselves as significantly happier compared to those in other relationships, according to the Daily Mail.

Mothers were found to be the happiest people, according to the study. However, childless couples were happier than those with children, according to researchers at Open University.

Researchers noted that married couples were happier than unmarried couples, regardless of whether they were parents.

The findings are surprising because married couples were more likely to say there are flaws in their relationships and worry about chores, money and sharing the same values. Being married also makes it less likely for couples to say they liked making time for each other, and more likely for couples to say that they were drifting apart.

"Both married and unmarried people without children are happier with their partner than parents," the report said, according to the Daily Mail. "Married parents are as happy with life overall as couples without children and both groups score higher on this measure than their unmarried counterparts."

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