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Being a single woman gets a lot of bad rep, but there are so many beautiful benefits to the single life, and now there is a study to back it up.

There has been previous research done that supports the idea that married folks are happier than single people, but apparently, they only have that energy when their spouse is in the room. When they are alone, the narrative changes.

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Behavioral science professor, Paul Dolan, told The Guardian that while “married people are happier than other population subgroups,” that only applies to “when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are.”

“When the spouse is not present: f—ing miserable,”  Dolan, who teaches at the London School of Economics, candidly explained. “The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children.”

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In Dolan’s book, Happy Ever After: Escaping the Myths of the Perfect Life, the researcher compared data from single, married, separates, divorced and widowed to find out who was happiest amongst the pack.

It appears there are differences between how men and women benefit , or don’t benefit, from the old ball and chain.

For men, “You take less risks, you earn more money at work and you live a little longer,” Dolan said of the findings, but “She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married.”

Look like women literally get the short end of the stick when it comes to becoming wives and mothers.

“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,” Dolan said.

Of course, these findings are a snapshot of the whole, but it does lead us to believe that the traditional path for women may not be the happiest or ideal scenario for all women.

This story was originally published on MadameNoire.com

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