Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-02-13
Death Rate
Of Married
Kills Old Joke
Insurance Firm Finds
They Do Live Longer
By DIR. LOGAN CLENDENING

Joke, and there is nothing
that kills a good joke as quickly
as the sober-sidcd demonstration
that it is literally true.
The reason the Why docs
chicken cross the road" jokes
is going to be eternally good
(of course. it's a little stale TO
you, but that crawler or two on
the floor is going 10 get a big
kick out Of it about four years
from now is that nobody is
ever going TO know whether the
chicken really crosses the road
10 get on the other side or
whether he has some Interior
mystical motive in his ornotho-
logical psychology.
But one Joke is dead Tho
Metropolitan Life Insurance
Company, with cold, clammy
logic. has proved that the old
ono about why married people
live longer-"they don't. II only
seems longer is not joke but
Is literally true.
Among males in the essen
TALLY productive ages Of life,
the death rate among the sin
gle or widowed is about double
that amount for married, ac-
cording to statistics for New
York State, exclusive Of New
York City. for the years 1929
to 1881.
4 T THE age Of 40, tho actual
"A automatically recor ded
rates were 6 per 1000 among
the married and j per 1000
among the single and Is among
the widowed.
Single women and widows arc
4 little less resistant than their
married colleagues.
Al the age Of 40, married
women have A death rate Of )
per 1000 as against q among
single and 7 among widows.
OF course, these figure arc
open 10 certain amount OF
Interpretation. Widows an d
widowers are. by the very ma
ture OF their situation. older
than married people and there
fore the death rate Is higher
The same does not however
apply 70 the single people. but
other factors enter IN.
Alcoholism. for instance. par
tiCularly among males. Is far
more prevalent among the SIN
gle and widowed than among
married people,
The actual figures show that
IL per cent Of all deaths at
the ages of 20 10 "a TOR the
single and per cent for the
widowed we're attributed 70
alcoholism, while for the mar
RED. there was only a httle
more than 2 Of per cent.
1 CCIDENTS appear to hap
n pen moro often 10 peoples
living alone than 10 those who
have family attachments
Single and widowed people
arc more inclined 10 take Sc
rlous risks.
The death rate among
widowed males between the
ages of 20 and ~ was due 10
accidents IN p per cent Of all
deaths. This IS an astonishing
figure.
tuberculosis and accidents
taken together account for al
most one-half Of the deaths IN
this group.
Suldlde is also higher among
the single and widowed which
would seem 10 indicate that the
responsibility Of a family tends
10 strengthen the VIII 10 live
even when seemingly insur-
mountable problems present
themselves.
Another group Of diseases
which indicate that there Is
some difference between the
married and single state Is in
fiuenza and pneumonia
Single and widowed males
between As and a have a rate
of Z. while the same group
among the married has a rate
OF s.
That females do not show
quite the marked difference
might no interpreted a. inGl-
eating that the married men
have someone to look after
them and flutter over them and
make them change from wet TO
dry clothes and keep them
from exposure.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERS