The growth of human beings is a natural process that entails various stages from infancy, childhood, adolescence/teenage, adulthood, and old age. People undergo various life experiences, which could be universal or individual. When one reaches adulthood or the maturity stage, one makes personal decisions about life. For instance, they choose what they prefer: single life vs. married life. Some consider that a single life is better than a married life. Yet, lacking a relationship entails having nobody close to you to share your personal life with. Meanwhile, living a married life entails being with a special individual in life (husband or wife) to deal with various problems (Puciato et al., 2022). There are various advantages and disadvantages that could be drawn from these relationship statuses, and this essay gives an in-depth discussion of the issue.
In a single life, everything that revolves around an individual is under the individual’s control, and there are no considerations of others before making a decision in regard to home or other personal matters. All the successes and fall downs of single persons are only of concern to them. There is a lot of privacy and freedom, including financial freedom (Gesselman et al., 2019). The reason is that these individuals own their lives wholly and do not have to be accountable to anybody else. Still, singlehood is viewed negatively as a form of immorality and a person is perceived to be avoiding commitments associated with marriage at the expense of perpetrating immorality in the name of freedom (Puciato et al., 2022). The choice between living a single or a married life is usually personal, although some may be forced by circumstances, for instance, being single due to lack of a suitable partner or being forced to marry according to customs.
Married life, on the other hand, entails some aspects of compromise where one has to consider the partner’s opinion in regard to an issue before making a decision, no matter how personal it may seem to be. It also involves a lot of sharing, for example, time and other resources, with the family members (husband/wife and children). There are various benefits accrued to a married life, for instance, having someone to share one’s achievements and difficulties, to love and get love from as well as comfort and emotional tie that could be missing in a single life (Puciato et al., 2022). There is also an advantage of pooled income, especially where both partners work. However, married life requires an extra effort to keep it working unlike the single life that does not have any form of commitment. It is also considered a healthy relationship that avoids health problems like heart attacks brought about by life pressures as a result of lack of a person to share personal issues with.
In summary, the general differences that exist between a single and a married life are companionship, responsibility, and lifestyle. Most societies advocate for marriage life with their arguments being based on the bible, that life should be shared between two people, and the benefits therein such as having a happy life composed of children. Both single and married lifestyles have benefits and drawbacks especially when they are viewed from the angle of the attributes involved for example freedom, companionship as well as cost/efforts. All the benefits enjoyed by a single or a married individual are not without a price and hence one cannot clearly state the lifestyle that is better than the other and the decision is, therefore, personal depending on how one takes it.
References
Gesselman, A. N., Franco, C. Y., Brogdon, E. M., Gray, P. B., Garcia, J. R., & Fisher, H. E. (2019). Perceptions of married life among single never‐married, single ever‐married, and married adults. Personal Relationships, 26(4), 586-601.
Puciato, D., Rozpara, M., Bugdol, M., & Mróz-Gorgoń, B. (2022). Socio-economic correlates of quality of life in single and married urban individuals: A Polish case study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 20(58), 1-12.
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