Can Marriage Boost Your Health?

Regardless of whether your relationship is loving or painful, it's going to have an impact on your physical and emotional health.

Did you know there are surprising benefits of being married, other than to have someone else take out the trash in the morning?

Your companionship can keep you healthier, happier and better off financially.

If you take the leap of faith into the long-term commitment of marriage, you are more likely to have better physical health. Research has shown that couples that are married have a better chance of surviving cancer than single, widowed, separated or divorced people. In fact, according to research, 90 percent of married women who were alive at 45 made it to 65 versus 80 the percent of divorced and non-married women.

Married couples are also more likely to have better mental health than those who are not. Marriage decreases depression, anxiety and feelings of loneliness.

Don't think that if you get married all your problems will vanish into thin air, however. Marriage requires a lot of work, patience and communication in order for you and your spouse to fulfill all the benefits it has to offer.

What are the other health benefits of tying the knot?

Lucy Flower Professor in Urban Sociology, Linda J. Waite, PhD, shares why married people are happier, healthier and better off financially.