The Marriage Bonus

For John, BLUF:  One is better off married than single.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Marriage linked to longer lifespan, new data shows

Here is the sub-headline:

Part of the marriage benefit could be explained by the fact that people in good health are more likely to marry, said Katherine Ornstein, a professor at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.

From United Press International, by Reporter Dennis Thompson, 10 October 2010.

Here is the lede plus two:

Married folks not only live longer than singles, but the longevity gap between the two groups is growing, U.S. government health statisticians report.

The age-adjusted death rate for the married declined by 7 percent between 2010 and 2017, according to a new study from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Not only is the rate for married lower, but it's declining more than any other group," said lead author Sally Curtin, an NCHS statistician.

Between the headline and the sub-headline I am confused.  Was it causation or merely correlation?

My personal conclusion, based on this and other things I have read, is that marriage is a social good, and we have done a bit of damage to it since the 1960s.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff