Potpourri: A Couple Current Relevant New Stories

Today I thought I would share some news items currently filling up my “Blog Content” bookmarks folder in Firefox. Aside from the news, I might just have a perspective or other opinion to offer on the matter. Read on to find out!

Australian Survey Shows That Men Are Happiest With Educated Wives

From a survey reported in the Sydney Morning Herald reports:

“Every extra year of education a wife has under her belt significantly increases the chances her husband will report being highly satisfied with life. But Shane Mathew Worner, of the Australian National University’s economics program, says it may be that an educated woman’s earning power is her biggest asset.”

This only goes to reinforce a point that I’ve been making for years regarding men and women: Men—you don’t necessarily want to marry the hot girl that doesn’t have a clue what she’s talking about. Sooner or later any novelty or benefit of her “hotness” will wear off. When you get past that, you may want to carry on a civilized conversation about something, I don’t know, educated. While you can certainly set your sights on the beautiful woman in the room, it might be wise to make sure that she hasn’t checked her gray matter at the door.

Why Slim People Dislike the Overweight

This is an interesting one from the University of British Columbia:

“Antipathy toward obese people is a powerful and pervasive prejudice in many contemporary populations. Our results reveal, for the first time, that this prejudice may be rooted in multiple, independent mechanisms. They provide the first evidence that obesity serves as a cue for pathogen infection.”

And the reaction from one half of the “Two Fat Ladies,” show that aired in the late 1990s on BBC and the Food Network, Clarissa Dickson Wright:

“In the 1960s there were a lot of bigoted people who were anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-everything but when they couldn't get away with that any more they turned into food-Nazis instead and began attacking people who were fat.”

People tend to take on the traits and habits with those which they socialize. Does it really matter if it is a behavioral or biochemical matter?

The Marriage Premium

Some people grow up with the notion that taxes penalize married couples, while some have the notion that married people can earn more money. Who has it right?

The short answer: Married couples, of course.

Richard Morin, of the Washington Post wrote in June 2004:

“The notion that marriage gives a financial boost to men goes back three decades. It became so well-established that economists and social scientists even gave it a name: "the marriage premium." Married men, the researchers hypothesized, could spend more time working, preparing for work or simply resting up for the job and therefore earned more money than their single counterparts. Why? Because many of them could concentrate on their jobs while their dutiful wives took primary responsibility for the home front. This specialization was good for both spouses, according to this theory. Husbands went further in their careers and earned more, and their wives shared the benefits.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was able to quantify this phenomenon:

“On average, marriage increases income by about $1,800 for every year of marriage…[and] because married couples have an obligation to others, they tend to be more financially responsible are more likely to save money. They also have the opportunity to combine their strengths. For example, a husband who is skilled at fixing things can save a family a great deal of money, as can a wife who is skilled at managing money. When marriage partners pool their resources, both people benefit.”

There you go: Linear and non-linear payoffs of marriage. There are also a slew of other financial benefits. A few are:

· The ability to file joint tax returns

· The ability to set up a family partnership whereas all profits are shared amongst family members

· Estate taxation benefits

· Receiving government benefits on behalf of your spouse

· Receiving family rates for insurance

There are a few downsides, however. According to research reported by Mr. Morin, in regards to women, any “extra income was often offset by a drop in their wives' earnings…The paychecks of many married women declined—or stopped altogether—after they became brides or mothers.” At any rate, a 21-year study concluded that while “’single men have the same total family income [per family member], regardless of whether they are single, cohabiting or married,’ she wrote, adding that ‘marriage and cohabitation confer sizable -- and identical -- financial benefits on women while men break even upon entering either type of union.’"

An up-and-coming social trend, also, is the civil union trend. Whereas it remains a staunch political fight whether homosexuals can formally wed, some legislators in state governments across the United States have introduced the concept of the “civil union” such that partners, such as those of the same sex, can enjoy the benefits of married life without the necessary religious vows. While the politics of this matter, and several others, are outside the scope of this blog, I will leave the matter be as to say this: Expect the civil union debate to continue for some time and affect everyone for whom marriage is—or is not—an option.