Marital Status and Social Well-Being: Are the Married Always Better Off?

The positive link between marriage and physical and psychological well-being is well established, but whether marriage is associated with social well-being is not. Using nationally representative data from the MIDUS study (N = 3,032), the present study examines the degree to which there are marital status differences in perceived social well-being, to what extent marital histories affect perceived social well-being, and the degree to which findings vary between social well-being and psychological well-being outcomes. We find that married persons do not have a decisive social well-being advantage over unmarried persons. However, married persons do have a significant social well-being advantage over non-married cohabitors. Additionally, marital history matters little to the perceived social well-being of our respondents. Comparisons with psychological well-being measures indicate substantial differences in the effect of marital status on individual-level well-being.