Research suggests that the benefits of marriage for women may not last and, indeed, that there comes a point when they are better off widowed than shackled to an elderly spouse. (shackled? Ed?) Researchers from the University of Padua tracked almost 2,000 over-65s living in the Veneto region of Italy for four years. Based on the results of earlier studies, they expected to find the singletons more likely to be depressed and physically frail than the married people – and this proved true for men, whether they were widowers or bachelors. But among women, the widows were 23% less likely to be frail than their married counterparts; and they were less likely to be depressed too. The small number of unmarried women in the study were also found to be happier and physically stronger than their married peers.

Dr Caterina Trevisan, who led the study, speculates that in traditional (old-fashioned) marriages, it tends to be the women who are left with the burden of household chores,(I don’t know about that! Ed) leaving them feeling “stressed” and frustrated. And since women generally remain in good health longer than men, many end up acting as carers for their ailing husbands – which could, again, make being widowed something of a relief ( oh, dear! Ed). It may also be the case that women cope better than men do with bereavement, because they are less reliant on their spouses, and have better social and family networks to fall back on. (The Week, May 2016)

So, how did males all over the world manage for centuries to persuade their spouses to do all the cooking, housework, child rearing and other boring tasks, and then nurse them in old age? It couldn’t just be that they were/are gorgeous, attractive hunks. I’m puzzled.