Staying married has its benefits, especially financial, as a new U.S.-wide study shows the wealth of a married person is almost double that of somebody who is single.

　　Divorce among U.S. baby boomers reduced personal wealth by about 77 percent compared to that of a single person, while the financial standing among those who remained married almost doubled, according to a nationwide study released this week.

　　"If you really want to increase your wealth, get married and stay married. On the other hand, divorce can devastate your wealth," said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at Ohio Sate University's Center for Human Resource Research.

　　Married people will see an increase in wealth that is more than just adding the assets of two single people, according to the study that was published in the Journal of Sociology.

　　Those who remained together saw a 93 percent gain in wealth compared to that of a single person, while individuals facing divorce saw their financial situation deteriorate long before the decree became final, according to Zagorsky.

　　The study used data from surveys taken over a 15-year period involving 9,055 Americans who were between 21 and 28 years old in 1985.

　　Those respondents who remained single had a steady, but slow growth in wealth, from less than $2,000 at the start of the surveys up to an average of about $11,000 after 15 years.

　　However, those who married and stayed that way showed a sharp increase in wealth accumulation after marriage, growing to an average $43,000 by the 10th year of marriage or by about 16 percent a year.

　　For people who married and then divorced, there was a slow build-up of wealth during the early years of marriage and then a steady decline about four years prior to divorce.

　　"Many of these people may have separated before the divorce became official, which would help explain why wealth starts falling so early," Zagorsky said. "Divorce is often a long and messy process, and you can see this in the four-year decline in wealth."

　　The study also cast doubt on a common assumption that divorce is much harder financially on women than on men. In fact, it showed that women suffered financially only slightly more than men.

婚姻生财 研究显示已婚者比单身汉富两倍

　　维持婚姻关系好处多多，尤其是在个人财政方面。最新一项全美范围的研究显示，已婚人士拥有的个人财产几乎是单身汉的两倍。

　　据路透社1月20日报道，本周公布的这项涵盖美国各地的研究结果表明，在二战之后婴儿潮(1945年至1964年)时代出生的人当中，仍保持婚姻关系的人的财产比那些至今单身的人翻了近一番，而离婚者的个人财产则比单身汉下降了约77%。

　　美国俄亥俄州大学人力资源研究中心科学家、此次研究的主持杰伊·扎戈尔斯基说：“如果你真地想增加财产的话，那就去找个人结婚吧。并且你必须要维持婚姻关系，因为离婚可能使你散尽家财。”

　　据这份刊登在《美国社会学杂志》上的研究说，与至今保持单身的人相比，那些夫妇的个人财产已经增长了93%；而那些深陷离婚泥潭的人，在最终与昔日伴侣分道扬镳之前，他们的经济状况就早已开始走下坡路了。

　　这项研究所依据的调查数据来自9055名美国人，时间横跨15年，这些人在1985年时的年龄在21岁到28岁之间。

　　对于至今保持单身的人，他们的财产增长平稳，但速度缓慢。调查开始时，他们的财产不到2000美元，15年后达到1.1万美元；对于始终保持婚姻的人，他们的个人财产在婚后迅速增加，10年间达到4.3万美元，年平均增幅为16%；而看看那些结了婚又离婚的人，他们的财产在新婚后几年中有缓慢增长，但在正式离婚约4年以前就开始逐渐下降。

　　扎戈尔斯基说：“离婚是一个让人头痛的漫长历程。对于许多闹离婚的人，他们可能在正式离婚前就已经分居了，这也许就是为什么他们的财产早早便开始减少的原因。”

　　报道说，一般人认为，离婚后，女方遭受的经济损失比男方要严重得多。但这项这项研究的结果却表明，女方的经济损失仅比男方略微多一些。

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