Does being married mean you live longer?

A new study says so. (Thanks Picture of Health for flagging the study.)

Single people die a decade earlier than married folks, according to the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. According to msnbc.com:

The researchers analyzed the data from some 90 previous studies, which included about 500 million people, and compared the risk of mortality for singles from those studies — defined as those who never married — to that of a married group, excluding those who are divorced or widowed.

The researchers found the risk of death was 32 percent higher across a lifetime for single men compared to married men. Single women face a 23 percent higher mortality risk, compared to married women.

Were you healthier as a single person? Has marriage made you healthier or in poorer health?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Marriage
        

E. and I had an argument the other day over who was going to feed baby J. It was early in the morning, and we were both exhausted.

Somehow, the disagreement escalated into a heated discussion about work and other matters. We both want to fight in a constructive way, especially since we want to serve as a model of a healthy marriage to little J.

Just as I was thinking about how we could better resolve future conflicts, I ran across a Wall Street Journal article about this very topic. Author Elizabeth Bernstein talks to experts about how to argue right, which can help strengthen marriages.

Research shows it's how we fight—where, when, what tone of voice and words we use, whether we hear each other out fairly—that's critical. If we argue poorly, we may end up headed for divorce court. Yet if we argue well, experts say, we actually may improve our relationship.

Continue reading "Fighting right" »

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Marriage
        

Being a stay-at-home parent is hard. What is like for the breadwinner who's also the mom?

CBS' The Early Show co-host Erica Hill talks about feeling guilty, letting go of control and adjusting to what's becoming an increasingly more common arrangement.

Of course, I didn't fully factor in the inevitable pangs of guilt and the frustration. The guilt wasn't new. I think every parent (especially moms) places an unnecessary amount of guilt on themselves when it comes to raising children: not home enough, not present enough while home, too distracted by the BlackBerry, not really interested in reading "Goodnight Moon" for the 347th time, not up for schlepping to the playground, too short-tempered... the list goes on and on.

Continue reading "Working mom as breadwinner" »

Posted by Hanah Cho at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dads, Guilty-Mom polls, Marriage, Parenting in general, Work-life balance, Workplace
        

During maternity leave, I became hooked on the reality show Tori & Dean: Sweet Home Hollywood. (Instead of sleeping while J. was napping, I turned on the television.)

For those not aware of the show, Tori is actress Tori Spelling of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame, who along with her husband, Dean McDermott, are raising two small children. A big theme of the show is Tori trying to juggle her life as a mom, wife, actress, author and with everything else that's going on in her life.

I realize that she probably has more help and resources than the average working mom. But like most couples, Tori and Dean have arguments about their roles, similar to the discussion we're having on this blog.

In particular, they are struggling with what it means to be husband and wife when you are so focused on being good parents. You are so busy with work or trying to give your kid a bath or getting an extra few minutes of sleep that you barely have time to acknowledge your significant other except to talk about your kids.

By the end of the show's most recent season, Tori and Dean get their mojo back by reconnecting through dates and getaways without their children, and remembering what brought them together in the first place. They even renew their wedding vows.

Many couples don't have the time or the resources to go to such lengths. So how do you reconnect with your hubby wife or partner? What works for you?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Marriage, Work-life balance