National Review recently pointed to new research that suggests married couples are best positioned to weather the emotional and financial storms of the COVID-19 pandemic. It sounds like common sense: Married people are much less likely to report feeling lonely or isolated (despite the social distancing) and are also more financially stable than those living on their own. They also tend to have wider family networks to rely on in times of trouble.

Of course, none of this suggests that married people are morally superior to single people, or that marriage is a guarantee for success. What it does reinforce, yet again, is the truth that marriage is a good thing, not a tool of patriarchal oppression or a loss of freedom, as we so often hear. And it suggests that the decline of marriage is not a healthy trend.

And, this study should remind us married folks to look out for friends, neighbors and family who live alone.