MAN'S LIFE SPAN.

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16653, 19 November 1925, Page 4

MAN'S LIFE SPAN.

WHICH LIVES LONGER? MARRIED MAN OR BACHELOR? Which lives longer—the married man or the bachelor? Few other questions in vital statistics have been more widely discussed. All information bearing on the subject has been studied by physicians, scientists, theologians, social welfare experts and criminologists, and with particular attention by the insurance companies. The answer to this ancient question has a general and far reaching influence. If it is established that the chances of long life arc greater for bachelors than for the married, both men and women will naturally be influenced in choosing between the two states. The moralist finds such statistics the basis for argument. For the insurance companies the question is a very practical one. Before millions of dollars arc risked upon the expectation of life, the most reliable figures obtainable are gathered, regardless of trouble or expense.. Despite painstaking investigation, the problem to-day is still unsolved. After weighing the arguments of all the investigators and comparing the bewildering aray of statistics gathered in many countries under varying conditions, it is impossible to reach a conclusive answer. Many statisticians and other investigators who may qualify as experts on the subjeot hold' views diametrically opposed to one another. Hard Words for Bachelorhood. One of the most distinguished advovates of the good influence of marriage on longevity, Dr James Stark, Registrar General of Scotland, said, after careful, investigation, that "bachelorhood Is more destructive to long life than the most unwholesome of trad»s." An array of figures has been quoted to prove this extreme view. According to Dr Stark's figures, out of the ages of forty and fifty 1407 die ei"h scar, as compared with 18.55 unmarried men who die among a similar number in the same period. In the early ages from twenty-five to thirtyfive years, the proportion of deaths among the unmarried men is even greater. Out of 100,000 married persons, including widowers, from twenty to twenty-five years old, 020 die every year, while in the same number of unmarried persons between the same ages no fewer than 1231 die annually. According to other British statistics, the average number of deaths per year among unmarried men between the ages of twenty-nine and forty-six years is twenty-eight in every 1000. while among married men in the same period the deaths are only eighteen. A famous table prepared by Dr Stark shows the contrast between the mortality of the married and the single is greatest between the ages of 20 and 25, and varies considerably at subsequent ages. His summary of the yearly mortality per 100,000 is as follows :

Some significant figures along this line have also been collected by Bertillon, who formulated the familiar system of finger-print identification of criminals. The investigations of the statisticians of many insurance companies point to similar conclusions. The greater longevity of married men over bachelors is also pointed out by Ghirstopher von Rufeland In his work, "The Art of Prolonging Life." This authority goes so far as to say that "there is not one instance of a bachelor's having attained to a great age." He also asserts, as a result of his investigations, that "all those people who have become very old were married more than once." This condition, ho says, applies to both men and women. Similar claims for the influence of married life upon longevity might be quoted indefinitely. Some of the best minds of the age haA r c studied the problem. The statistics above quoted have been attacked by no less an authority than Herbert Spencer. The great philosopher accepted the statistics gathered by the Scotch statistician and others, but disagreed entirely with the conclusion that marriage itself prolongs life. The exports of modern insurance companies, it is found, seem to agree with Spencer's reasoning. The great mass of statistics on the subject indicates in the main that married men as a rule actually live longer than bachelors, and that the advantage, measured in years, is often considerable. The best information obtainable is that such is true In both America and Europe. The latest figures on the subject are probably those gathered by Frederick L. Hoffman, consulting statistician of the Prudential Insurance Company of Newark. He has found that the death rate among single men in America is appreciably higher than among married men. An analysis of these figures is made by John K. Gore, Vice President .of the Prudential and a former President of the Actuarial Society of America, who for years has made a special study of the question. This American authority is also in accord with the reasoning of Herbert Spencer I in the matter. Both bachelors and married men will doubtless find comfort in ■his line of reasoning. He points out that, although married men unquestionably live longer than bachelors, the increased longevity is not due t > -,he fact alone that they arc married. The situation is influenced by many factors that may not appear at first glance.

A parallel may be found, he explained, iq the statistics of deaths in and out of bed. A great many more persons die in their beds than elsewhere, but it does not follow, obviously, that the. act of going to bed causes death. Herbert Spencer contended that marriage, as a rule, attracts only the strong and the competent, who naturally are more likely to live longer. He held that bachelors, on the other hand, include the weak and the incompetent: in short, the left-overs, who, generally speaking, are less likely to enjoy . a normal span of life. Spencer concluded that the same influences that produce marriages are the ones that favour long lives. The rule, lie believed, applies alike to men and women. Wiser Choice of Husbands. In interpreting the recent statistics on the subject, Mr Gore points out that, the selecting of the best types of men for husbands and the eliminating of the unfit and undesirable is probably carried on more intelligently and ruthlessly at present, than in the past Women are better judges of physical fitness to-day than they were a generation or more ago. Although it is the man who proposes,.it.is the woman who accents, and the young woman of,

to-day is likely lo be an exacting critic of physical condition. Naturally, the married men under this system of selection are a better class than those who have been rejected. It is the experience -of the insurance companies ihat married men are freer from accidents of all kinds than bachelors. The head of a family feels his responsibility, as a rule, and hence takes better care of himself. He is theerfore a better risk than the bachelor.

Ages. Married. Single 20-25 6.26 12.31 25-30 8.23 14.94 30-35 8.65 15.94 35-/.0 11.67 16.02 40-45 14.07 18.35 45-50 17.04 21.18 50-55 19.54 26134 55-00 26.14 28.54 C0-G5 35.63' 44.54 '•65-70 52.93 60.21 70-75 81.56 102.71 75-80 117.85 143.94 80.85 173.88 195.40