Married, churchgoing couples among the happiest, data says
Men and women who are married and who attend church regularly are among the happiest couples, according to data compiled by a prominent sociological professor.
Brad Wilcox, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia as well as the director of the school’s National Marriage Project, told “EWTN News Nightly” this week that he wrote his newest book, “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” after hearing concerns from his students about the state of marriage today.
“They’re kind of worried about their prospects for marriage, particularly the women at UVA,” Wilcox told “EWTN News Nightly” host Tracy Sabol. “And so this kind of concern led me to write a book on the importance [and] the value” of adults getting married.
Contrary to popular perception, Wilcox said, data indicate that married men and women are markedly happier than their unmarried counterparts.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of stories … talking about the ways in which [women], for instance, are kind of really miserable in marriage and miserable as mothers,” Wilcox said, citing a recent media report alleging that “married moms were less well off” than “single, childless women.”
“In fact, the data point us in exactly the opposite direction,” he said. “What we see is that for both women and men, the path to prosperity and happiness kind of runs right through marriage. So both women and men who are married, for instance, are almost twice as likely to be very happy with their lives compared to their single peers.”
“There’s really no group that’s as happy for men as married dads and for women as married moms,” Wilcox said. “So as tough as marriage [and] as tough as being a parent can be, the upside to having a spouse and kids for most Americans is pretty high.”
The happiness factor, Wilcox said, shows up even more prominently in married couples who attend church regularly.
