Happiness

On average, married people are happier than unmarried people. Why?

Happy people may be more likely to get and stay married than unhappy people. But there's more to it than that. 

A married couple is a team. Being part of a team can reduce stress. But there's more.

A person may feel that marriage provides meaning to his or her life. But there's more.

People who are married have someone who, at the end of the day, will be there no matter what. There's still more.

Some people say that simply being married makes you happy. But I disagree. Each individual is responsible for his or her own happiness: the only person who can make you happy is you. That being said, married people are accountable to their spouses about their happiness as much as about anything else, including their finances. If you are unhappy, that will affect your spouse, and if you love your spouse, you will not want him to be a victim of your unhappiness.

Maybe accountability and responsibility are the reasons that married people tend to be happier. Maybe that's just my take on it. Every marriage is different, after all.