1

ETHICS
ALTERNATIVES TO GETTING MARRIED & STAYING
MARRIED: THE EFFECTS*

ON PHYSICAL HEALTH AND WELL BEING

1. 70% OF CHRONIC PROBLEM DRINKERS ARE SEPARATED OR DIVORCED

2. SINGLE MEN ARE 3 TIMES AS LIKELY TO DIE OF CIRRHOSIS AS ARE MARRIED MEN OF
THE SAME AGE

3. SUICIDE RATES ARE THE HIGHEST AMONG THE DIVORCED AND THE NEVER
MARRIED, AND THE LOWEST AMONG THE MARRIED

4. DIVORCED WOMEN HAVE DOUBLE THE RATE OF INJURIES OF MARRIED WOMEN

5. THOSE WHO LIVE ALONE OR WHO LIVE WITH SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THEIR SPOUSE
LIVE SHORTER LIVES THAN PEOPLE WHO ARE MARRIED

6. UNMARRIED, DIVORCED AND COHABITING PEOPLE HAVE TO USE HEALTH CARE

SERVICES MORE THAN DO MARRIED PEOPLE, AND WHEN THEY GET SICK THEY TAKE
LONGER TO GET WELL THAN DO MARRIED PEOPLE

ON MENTAL HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

1. THE HIGHEST MENTAL HOSPITAL ADMISSION RATES ARE CONSISTENLY FOUND

AMONG THE DIVORCED, FOLLOWED BY THE WIDOWED, THE SINGLE, AND LASTLY, BY
THE MARRIED.

2. THE PSYCHIATRIC ADMISSION RATE FOR SINGLE SCHIZOPHRENIC MALES WAS 5.4
TIMES GREATER THAN FOR MARRIED SCHIZOPHRENIC MALES.

3. GREATER PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IS ASSOCIATED WITH WOMEN NOT LIVING AS

MARRIED, THAN WITH MARRIED WOMEN.

4. DIVORCED PERSONS ARE 6-10 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO USE INPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC
FACILITIES AND 4-5 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO USE OUTPATIENT CLINICS THAN ARE
MARRIED PERSONS.

5. NO PART OF THE UNMARRIED POPULATION DESCRIBES ITSELF AS BEING SO HAPPY

AND CONTENTED WITH LIFE AS DO THE MARRIED.

*
ALL STATISTICS COMPARE SIMILAR AGE AND ETHNIC GROUPS

Christopher Ullman, Instructor 1

 2
ETHICS
6. CONTRARY TO THE PICTURE OF THE GRIM MENTAL HEALTH OF WIVES
POPULARIZED BY BETTY FRIEDAN AND OTHER FEMINIST SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, THE
FAVORABLE COMPARISONS OF MARRIED PERSONS TO UNMARRIED PERSONS ARE
EVEN STRONGER FOR WOMEN THAN THEY ARE FOR MEN.

ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF CHILDREN

 CHILDREN OF DIVORCES ROUTINELY SCORE LOWER THAN DO CHILDREN OF NEVER-

DIVORCED MARRIED PEOPLE, AVERAGED AND CONTROLLED FOR VARIABLES

 CHILDREN OF REMARRIED PEOPLE SCORE EVEN LOWER THAN DO CHILDREN OF

DIVORCES

WHY?*

1. CHILDREN OFTEN DEMONSTRATE RELUCTANCE IN ACCEPTING A NEW PARENTAL

FIGURE

2. CHILDREN STRUGGLE WITH NEW STEP-SIBLING RIVALRIES

3. CHILDREN STRUGGLE WITH JEALOUSY TOWARD THE NEW STEP-PARENT

4. THE PRESENCE OF A STEP-PARENT OFTEN REDUCES THE CLOSENESS OF THE

RELATIONSHIP THE CHILD HAS WITH THE BIOLOGICAL PARENT

5. CHILDREN SUFFER BECAUSE REMARRIAGE PRODUCES INCREASED TENSION

BETWEEN THE CHILD’S BIOLOGICAL PARENTS

OTHER EFFECTS ON CHILDREN OF DIVORCES, REMARRIAGES AND COHABITATION OF

PARENTS

1. INCREASED DROPOUT RATE

2. INCREASED NEED FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP

3. LOWER SELF ESTEEM

4. LOWERED SOCIOECONOMIC ATTAINMENT

5. LOWERED MARITAL STABILITY

6. FAMILY BREAKDOWN AND RESULTANT SINGLE PARENT HOUSEHOLDS ARE THE #1

CAUSE OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR BY CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
*
For more on the relationship between emotional health and intelligence, see Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than
IQ by Daniel Goleman (New York: Bantam, 1995).

Christopher Ullman, Instructor 2

 3
ETHICS

SOURCES:

STANTON, GLENN T. ONLY A PIECE OF PAPER? THE UNQUESTIONABLE BENEFITS OF

LIFELONG MARRIAGE. COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.: PUBLIC POLICY DIVISION, FOCUS ON
THE FAMILY, 1995.

JEYNES, WILLIAM H. “DOES DIVORCE OR REMARRIAGE HAVE THE GREATER NEGATIVE

IMPACT ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF CHILDREN?” IN JOURNAL OF DIVORCE &
REMARRIAGE, VOL. 29. BINGHAMTON, NY: HAWORTH PRESS, 1998.

Christopher Ullman, Instructor 3