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Is marriage good for your health? In general, research suggests yes. Married people live longer, have better access to health care, enjoy a more satisfying sex life, experience less stress, live a healthier lifestyle, and have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and depression compared to their single counterparts.

The list of health perks conferred by marriage is so long, in fact, that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made it a centerpiece of its two-year-old, $5 million national media campaign to promote wedded bliss.

But there’s a catch — men and women don’t get the same or equal benefits from a legally sanctioned pairing. A man’s sex life is likely to improve more than a woman’s after getting married, for instance, while a woman’s risk for depression tends to decrease more than her partner’s when she’s in a long-term relationship.

And in reality, getting hitched may not be strictly necessary. Women and men can reap some health benefits just by living together, or even by being in a stable long-term relationship, research suggests. Experts believe that same-sex couples, many of whom don’t even have the option to get married, also score health gains, though almost all research so far has focused only on heterosexual relationships.