We may have suspected it already, but now the science backs it up:unmarried and childless women are the happiest subgroup in the population.

我们可能会有点怀疑,但这种说法目前已经得到了科学的证实:未婚未育的女性是幸福感最高的群体.

And they are more likely to live longer than their married andchild-rearing peers, according to a leading expert in happiness.

研究幸福方面的知名专家表示,他们很可能比已婚已育的同龄人更长寿.

Speaking at the Hay Festival, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioral scienceat the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that thetraditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness -particularly marriage and raising children.

伦敦政治经济学院行为科学教授保罗·多兰,在海伊文化节上发表演讲称,最新研究表明传统意义上用来衡量成功的标准(特别是婚姻与育儿)实际上与幸福并不相关.

如果你是女性 ,你可以选择不结婚

"Married people are happier than other population subgroups, but only whentheir spouse¹ is in the room when they're asked how happy they are. When thespouse is not present: it's miserable," he said.

他说:"已婚人士比其他人群更幸福,但这仅限于被提问时,他们的配偶在场.当配偶不在场时,答案就很悲惨了."

"We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people overtime², but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: ifyou're a man, you should probably get married; if you're a woman, don'tbother."

"我们长期做跟踪调查,确实得到一些良好的纵向数据,但我还是愿意说:如果你是男性,你可能应该选择结婚;如果你是女性 ,你可以选择不结婚."

Men benefited from marriage because they "calmed down", he said.

他说,男性是从婚姻中受益的群体,因为他们可以"平静下来了".

"You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a littlelonger. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than ifshe never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women whonever married or had children," he said.

他表示:"男性承担的风险较低,工作收入更高,也会活得长一点.另一方面,女性必须忍受现状.假如她从未结婚,她会活得比现在长一些.最健康、最幸福的群体是从未结婚或从未生过孩子的女性."

Dolan's latest book, Happy Ever After, cites evidence from the AmericanTime Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery³ inunmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals.

多兰的新作《从此永远幸福快乐》,引用了美国人时间使用调查的证据,该调查比较了未婚、已婚、离婚、分居和丧偶的个体感受到的幸福及痛苦程度.

The study found that levels of happiness reported by those who were marriedwas higher than the unmarried, but only when their spouse was in the room.

该研究发现,当已婚人士的配偶在场时,他们回答的幸福水平高于未婚者.

Unmarried individuals reported lower levels of misery than marriedindividuals who were asked when their spouse was not present.

单身人士的痛苦程度要低于提问时配偶不在现场的已婚人士.

如果你是女性 ,你可以选择不结婚

Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in beingmarried for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributedtohigher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risksand seek medical help.

其它研究表明,平均而言,结婚可以使男性和女性获得一些财务和健康福利.而多兰表示,这可能要归功于更高的收入和情感支持,可以让已婚人士承担风险并寻求医疗帮助.

However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, asthey took fewer risks. Women's health was mostly unaffected by marriage,withmiddle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mentalconditions than their single counterparts.

然而,多兰表示,结婚给男性带来的健康好处更多,因为他们承担的风险较小.婚姻并没有改变多数女性的健康状况.中年已婚女性的身体和精神状况风险甚至高于单身同龄女性.

tie the knot:结婚Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan saidthat the existing narrative⁴ that marriage and children were signs of successmeant that the stigma⁵ could lead some single women to feel unhappy.

尽管未婚未育这种生活方式可以给女性带来一些好处,但多兰认为,当下大众常常以婚姻和孩子作为判断女性成功与否的标准,这种污名可能会让一些单身女性感到不快乐.

"You see a single woman of 40, who has never had children - 'Bless, that'sa shame, isn't it? Maybe one day you'll meet the right guy and that'llchange.'"

"当你看到一个40岁的女人,没有结婚,也没有孩子时,你会想 -- '天哪,真是可惜!也许有一天你会遇到那个对的人,一切都会好起来的.'"

"No, maybe she'll meet the wrong guy and that'll change. Maybe she'll meeta guy who makes her less happy and healthy, and die sooner."

"不,也有可能她会遇到一个错的人,情况会变得很糟糕.也许她会遇到一个带给她烦恼和忧虑的人,让她的身体健康每况愈下,进而英年早逝."