 Chronic loneliness increases a person's odds of death in any given year by 26%. Well, modern life strains our most important relationships in important ways, especially family relationships. According to Pew Research, nearly 4 in 10 adults aged 25 to 54 are neither married nor living with a partner, and the average age of getting married keeps climbing. Also, the U.S. is the world leader in single-parent households, with nearly 1 in 4 American kids living with just one parent and no other adults.