People Who Never Marry Could Pay $1 Million More in Taxes Over Their Lifetime

Yep. Beyond the indignities of bridesmaid dresses and hastily hatched setups by well-meaning married friends, it seems that being single has become a luxury. That's according to an analysis of U.S. Federal Tax Code published in the Atlantic on Monday, which finds singles are at a disadvantage, financially, over a lifetime. 

"Marital privileging marginalizes the 50 percent of Americans who are single," they continue. "The U.S. government is the main perpetrator, but private companies follow its lead. Thus marital privilege pervades nearly every facet of our lives." 

For the piece, Arnold and Campbell--who describe themselves as "not callous and repressed man-haters"--conjured two single women, earning $40,000 and $80,000 a year, and two married women of equivalent means, all living in Virginia. And, after doing exhaustive calculations in areas of income taxes, social security, IRAs, housing and health spending (and taking various liberties), they came to the following conclusions: Being single cost the lower-paid woman $484,368 over a 60-year lifetime, and a whopping $1,022,096 for the higher earner.