It is nice that politicians are coming around to the idea that marriage is a good thing for the very simple reason that it is: being married is better than not being married in pretty much every possible way. A study from the University of Zurich a few years ago showed that on average the married are happier than the unmarried at almost every stage of their lives.
They are also generally richer. Professor Andrew Oswald, of Warwick University, says that in virtually every country ever studied, workers who are married earn 10% – 20% more than those who are single, while recent work from Ohio University shows that married people, on average increase their wealth every year at double the rate of the single.
Even better news for the married is this: they are healthier and live longer than the single or the cohabiting. On average, says Oswald, being married adds around three years to a lifetime. So the married are richer than the unmarried in emotional physical and financial terms.
But while I’m pleased Labour has noticed all this I can’t see that there is any need for them to actually do anything about it via the tax system. Marriage is good. Most of us know its good. That’s why we get married. Tax breaks aren’t going to make any difference to that (anyone who decided to get married for the sake of a couple of extra quid a month might not end up getting the same benefits from it as those who marry for love and emotional security) so offering breaks to us might not be the best way to spend tax money that is so sorely needed elsewhere.
First published in The Evening Standard