I'm 47 and it's only been within the past 1-2 years where I have been able to form a conclusion on the question of if married people are happier or if single people are. Here is what I have concluded:
For women, they only way for a woman to be happy in a marriage is if she has gotton her inner slvt completely out of the way. I mean rode that CC until the lips rub off and gotten it all out of her system. Also she needs to have gone through some hard times in life where she got a swift reality kick telling her she isn't as "independent and tough" as she thought she was. Then, she must also be with a top tier man in the LMS department or close to the top tier, top enough to where she can compare him to the dozens of men she has been with the past and justify in her mind that she will never find a man better. She has to truely be honest with herself and think she has the best she is going to ever get. If she has ANY doubt, she isn't going to be happy in the marriage, and thus, neither is he.
For men, married men are happier so long as they are with a woman who is happy like the one I discussed above. The woman must be happy enough to not turn into a 400 lb whale. She must be happy enough to cook/clean for him and enjoy doing it. She must show him respect, let him be the leader, and not be a cvnt to be around. For men, him having a chance to be single and ho' around a bit at some point in life will also help him be able to be happy with what he has, but I don't think this is AS necessary for a man as for a woman. I know some men who are in their 40s, married, and SEEM happy. And only been with 2 women in their lives, one being their wife.
Bottom line, are single people or married people happier? If the woman is happy, then I think both men and women are better off married. If the woman is not happy, then they are both better off single. In other words, a man is better off single than settling.