Although fewer young people are getting married today than ever before, research suggests that getting and staying married is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

As the New York Times concluded, "being married makes people happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who remain single — particularly during the most stressful periods, like midlife crises."

Drake Baer contributed to this story.

Couples are turning their backs on marriage (verve231/iStock)

If you wait until you're 23 to commit, you're less likely to get divorced

A 2014 University of Pennsylvania study found that Americans who cohabitate or get married at age 18 have a 60% divorce rate.

But people who waited until 23 to make either of those commitments had a divorce rate around 30%.

"All of the literature explained that the reason people who married younger were more likely to divorce was because they were not mature enough to pick appropriate partners," the Atlantic reports.

The 'in love' phase lasts about a year

The honeymoon phase with its "high levels of passionate love" and "intense feelings of attraction and ecstasy, as well as an idealization of one's partner," doesn't last forever.

According to a 2005 study by the University of Pavia in Italy, it lasts about a year.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto) (Getty)

Eventually you realise that you're not one person

Once you start living together, you realize that you have different priorities and tolerances — like, for instance, what does or doesn't constitute a mess.

"People have to come to terms with the reality that 'we really are different people,'" says couples therapist Ellyn Bader. "'You are different from who I thought you were or wanted you to be. We have different ideas, different feelings, different interests.'"

It's a stressful — and necessary — evolution.

If you get excited for your partner's good news, you'll have a better relationship

In multiple studies, couples that actively celebrated good news (rather than actively or passively dismissed it) have had a higher rate of relationship well-being.

For example, say a wife comes home to her husband and shares an accomplishment. As we've reported before, an "active-constructive" response would be the best:

• An active-constructive response from him would be enthusiastic support: "That's great, honey! I knew you could do it, you've been working so hard."

• A passive-constructive response would be understated support — a warm smile and a simple "That's good news."

• An active-destructive response would be a statement that demeaned the event: "Does this mean you are going to be gone working even longer hours now? Are you sure you can handle it?"

• Finally, a passive-destructive response would virtually ignore the good news: "Oh, really? Well you won't believe what happened to me on the drive home today!"

The happiest marriages are between best friends

A 2014 National Bureau of Economic Research study found that marriage does indeed lead to increased well-being, mainly thanks to friendship.

Controlling for pre-marital happiness, the study concluded that marriage leads to increased well-being — and it does so much more for those who have a close friendship with their spouses. Friendship, the paper found, is a key mechanism that could help explain the causal relationship between marriage and life satisfaction.

The closer a couple is in age, the less likely they are to get divorced

A study of 3,000 recently married and recently divorced Americans found that age discrepancies correlate to friction in marriages.

Megan Garber reports on The Atlantic:

A one-year discrepancy in a couple's ages, the study found, makes them 3 percent more likely to divorce (when compared to their same-aged counterparts); a 5-year difference, however, makes them 18 percent more likely to split up. And a 10-year difference makes them 39 percent more likely.

Resentment builds quickly in couples that don't tackle chores together

Over 60% of Americans say that taking care of chores plays a crucial role in having a successful marriage.

"It's Not You, It's the Dishes" author Paula Szuchman recommends a system where each person specializes in the chores they're best at.

"[I]f you really are better at the dishes than remembering to call the in-laws, then that should be your job," she writes. "It'll take you less time than it'll take him, and it'll take him less time to have a quick chat with mom than it would take you, which means in the end, you've saved quite a bit of collective time."

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