The single life is the deadly life

News from the Norselands, From Dramatic increase in mortality among the unmarried by Siw Ellen Jakobsen.

Unmarried people die far earlier than those who are married. The disparity has widened significantly in the last 40 years.

Mortality – or the frequency of deaths – has been steadily declining in Norway over the last hundred years in comparison to people of the same age.

Our health has been improving and our life expectancy is increasing. But for many decades, a large segment of society has not taken part in this positive development in health. Those who are not married.

Øystein Kravdal is a demographic researcher and an expert on changes in our population. He has become aware of a startling fact: The difference in mortality between unmarried people and married people in Norway has increased sharply over the last 40 years.

Unmarried adult men now have almost twice the mortality rate of married men of the same age. Unmarried adult women also have much higher mortality rates than married women. “In 1975, the mortality rate of nonmarried men and women was about 20 per cent higher than among married couples,” says Kravdal. “Now the unmarried mortality rate is more than 80 percent higher!”

Over the past 40 years, the proportion of unmarried people over age 50 in society has decreased. But the proportion of unmarried people in the younger age groups is growing.

More interesting information and speculation in the article. Seems like a generational example of G.K. Chesterton's parable about the fence and the road. Don't ditch old cultural norms until you have a pretty good idea for why they emerged in the first place.