真相了！沒結婚沒孩子的女性更幸福

童話故事裏，公主的結局總是遇到白馬王子，從此永遠幸福快樂。似乎找到如意郎君就會改變單身的“悲慘生活”。

但是，權威專家指出，事實正好相反。幸福快樂的是單身女性，結婚後纔是過上了悲慘生活，不但更不健康、更不快樂，死得也更早。

We may have suspected it already, but now the science backs it up: unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population. And they are more likely to live longer than their married and child-rearing peers, according to a leading expert in happiness.

可能早已有人開始懷疑，但如今有了科學依據：未婚和沒有孩子的女性是最幸福的人羣。而且，據幸福研究權威專家稱，這部分女性比那些已婚有孩子的女性更長壽。

Speaking at the Hay festival, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that the traditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness – particularly marriage and raising children.

倫敦經濟學院行爲科學教授保羅·多蘭在海伊文化藝術節上說，最新的證據顯示，用於衡量成功的傳統標誌——尤其是婚姻和養小孩——和幸福無關。

"Married people are happier than other population subgroups, but only when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are. When the spouse is not present: f**king miserable,” he said.

他說：“已婚人羣比其他人羣幸福，那是在配偶在場的時候被問及是否幸福，人們才這麼說。當配偶不在的時候，人們的回答是：太悲慘了。”

"We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people over time, but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother.”

“我們確實在一段時間內跟蹤調查了同一批人並收集了優質的縱向數據，但我想把這種科學方法甩到一邊，直接得出結論說：如果你是男性，你應該結婚；如果你是女性，還是別結了。”

Men benefited from marriage because they “calmed down”, he said. “You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children,” he said.

他說，男性從婚姻中受益是因爲他們“平靜了下來”。“結婚後，男性承擔的風險更少，掙的錢更多，壽命也能長一點。與此同時，女性不得不忍受婚姻生活，而且死得也比終身未婚的女性更早。最健康最快樂的人羣是一輩子不結婚或不生養孩子的女性。”

put up with: 忍受（某人或某事）

Dolan’s latest book, Happy Ever After, cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals. The study found that levels of happiness reported by those who were married was higher than the unmarried, but only when their spouse was in the room. Unmarried individuals reported lower levels of misery than married individuals who were asked when their spouse was not present.

多蘭的新書《從此永遠幸福快樂》援引了美國時間使用調查報告的證據，該調查對比了未婚、已婚、離異、分居和鰥寡人羣的快樂和痛苦的水平。研究發現，已婚人羣所報告的快樂水平高於未婚人羣，但只有在配偶在場時才如此。當配偶不在場時，已婚人羣所報告的痛苦水平高於未婚人羣。

Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in being married for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributed to higher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risks and seek medical help.

其他研究衡量了婚姻給男性和女性帶來的平均經濟和健康效益，多蘭說，這些效益源於更高水平的收入和情感支持，讓已婚人羣可以承擔風險和尋求醫療幫助。

However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, as they took fewer risks. Women’s health was mostly unaffected by marriage, with middle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts.

但是，多蘭表示，男性顯然從婚姻中獲得了更多健康效益，因爲他們承擔的風險更少。女性的健康基本不會因婚姻而改善，已婚中年婦女身心受損的風險比單身女性更高。

tie the knot: 結婚

Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan said that the existing narrative that marriage and children were signs of success meant that the stigma could lead some single women to feel unhappy.

儘管單身、沒有孩子的生活方式對女性有好處，但多蘭指出，社會輿論認爲，婚姻和孩子是成功的標誌，這意味着一些單身女性會因恥辱感而感到不快樂。

"You see a single woman of 40, who has never had children – ‘Bless, that’s a shame, isn’t it? Maybe one day you’ll meet the right guy and that’ll change.’ No, maybe she’ll meet the wrong guy and that’ll change. Maybe she’ll meet a guy who makes her less happy and healthy, and die sooner.”

“如果你看到一個從未生養孩子的40歲單身女性，你會說：‘好可惜！也許有一天你會遇到合適的男人，一切都會改變。’不，也許她會遇到錯的男人，一切都會改變。也許她會遇到一個男人，讓她更不快樂、更不健康，然後死得更早。”