Marriage does a lot of social good, concluded a report titled "Why Marriage Matters: 21 Conclusions from the Social Scientists."

The study found that communities with a majority of successful marriages are happier and healthier than communities with high divorce rates. Other conclusions include:

Children of single parents are less healthy physically than children who live with both married parents.

Single men have a shorter life expectancy than married men.

Most children of divorce suffer mental and emotional scars that could compromise future career and family success.

There are lower rates of drug and alcohol abuse in two-parent families.

The risk of suicide is greater in divorced families.

Single men earn less money than married men.

Mothers who are married experience less depression than mothers who cohabit or are single.

Single women have a higher risk of experiencing domestic violence than married women.

University of Virginia sociology professor Steven Nock, who contributed to the report, commented: "Asking why marriage matters is like asking why oxygen is good for you. In my view, we haven't discovered a better way of sustaining adults and children than marriage. Marriage is still one of the most permanent human relationships one can have."

Diane Sollee, report contributor and founder and director of the Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education, said: "This report should say to that person who's been married for 14 years and thinks he or she is falling out of love, that there's a reason to hang in there. Try to work out your differences. If you do, then in the end everyone will be better off."