the stress." But why do married couples seem to enjoy better health overall? Rather than surviving on love alone, Liu says the reality is far more pragmatic and to do with financial stability and access to adequate healthcare resources. A study by the University of Michigan has found that women are more likely than men to lose their health insurance following a divorce. Though the research was conducted in the US where lack of public healthcare makes things substantially direr, Liu says the findings can be extrapolated to include all recent divorcees. "Marriage has long been argued to promote health by providing protective resource to health," she said. "For example, married people usually pool income which increases the available economic resources. Married couples also often provide emotional support to each other and regulate each other's health behaviours. All of these factors may explain why married people are healthier." Liu emphasises that the research should not be used as an argument to dissuade women from escaping untenable or unfulfilling relationships. Though it's true that many individuals experience high levels of stress and subsequent illness, the findings also state that those who report a decline in health in the aftermath of a divorce eventually return to the same level as their married counterparts. This shows that it's the process of a divorce itself that causes the stress, not the simple fact of being single. Once the initial period has passed and the individual has adjusted to any financial disparity there is no