A team of researchers found that "people who marry in their twenties are less prepared to deal with heartbreak later in life." The researchers believe this may be because singles develop more "skills and social networks" to help them cope with the pain and turmoil following the end of a romantic relationship. While "those who enter committed partnerships when they are young may think their relationships will last forever, those who remain unmarried for some time may be less likely to make such assumptions, and thus are not as affected when their love affairs end."
Dr. Lonike van den Berg, the lead author of the study, said, "Being single may be a time to learn new things and focus on yourself." She added, "This new study supports this idea. But this does not mean you should move on and end a happy and healthy relationship if you are in your twenties." Van den Berg pointed out that "young women in long-term relationships tend to rely more financially on their partners, while men may be less accustomed to doing household chores." She suggested that "instead of separating, if you are in a relationship in your twenties, it may be beneficial to share the household burden, with both partners responsible for earnings and domestic work."
Her team reached its conclusions by examining data from a 36-year-long German study, which followed the same group of people from 1984 to the present. The study included 190 women and 151 men who were "single at the beginning of their lives," and 400 women and 262 men who entered life partnerships early on. It was noted that young women experienced a decline in life satisfaction after their first major breakup, with their satisfaction levels not improving much over the following three years. Men who entered into emotional relationships immediately experienced a significant drop in life satisfaction at the time of the breakup, but they improved over the subsequent year. However, those who were single initially showed barely any change in life satisfaction at the time of their breakup.
