Ward R A
J Gerontol. 1979 Nov;34(6):861-9. doi: 10.1093/geronj/34.6.861.
Sources or consequences of singlehood are analyzed for the 162 never-married persons aged 50 and over from the six years of the NORC General Social Surveys. Highly-educated older women are most likely to remain single, but family background was not a predictor. Although the never-married find life more exciting than other marital statuses among younger (25 to 49) respondents, this reverses in later life. The never-married are also less happy than the married, and only slightly happier than the widowed and divorced. The characteristic that best explains their relative unhappiness is greater dissatisfaction with family life. The lower well-being of the never-married is attributable either to changes accompanying aging which lessen the viability of single life styles, or to less support of single living among current older cohorts.
我们从美国国家民意研究中心（NORC）六年来的综合社会调查中，分析了162名年龄在50岁及以上的未婚人士单身的原因或后果。受过高等教育的老年女性最有可能保持单身，但家庭背景并不是一个预测因素。尽管在较年轻（25至49岁）的受访者中，未婚者比其他婚姻状况的人觉得生活更令人兴奋，但在晚年情况则相反。未婚者也不如已婚者幸福，只是比丧偶和离异者略幸福一点。最能解释他们相对不幸福的特征是对家庭生活的更大不满。未婚者幸福感较低，要么是因为随着年龄增长而发生的变化降低了单身生活方式的可行性，要么是因为当前老年人群体中对单身生活的支持较少。
