Manzoli et al. 2007 — Marital status and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis

What the study found

This 2007 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled 53 independent comparisons covering more than 250,000 elderly subjects to examine how marital status relates to death rates. It found that married people died at lower rates than non-married people, reporting a mortality relative risk for married versus non-married individuals of 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.91) — an estimate the authors say did not vary by gender. Compared with the married, the never married had a relative risk of death of 1.11. ^[1]

relative risk (RR) for married versus non-married individuals ... was 0.88 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.85-0.91)

^[1]

Why it matters here

In manosphere debates, marriage is often framed as a raw deal for men. This meta-analysis speaks to the health dimension of that question, reporting an association between being married and lower mortality among older adults. Because the data are observational, the finding cannot show that marriage itself extends life rather than that healthier people are more likely to marry and stay married. The authors also report that the married-versus-non-married estimate did not vary by gender, so the survival gap it describes is not specific to men. It is cited on is marriage a bad deal for men? as evidence on how marital status correlates with health outcomes.