The Marriage Benefit in Health and Survival: A Life Table Analysis
Open Access
- Author:
- Hidajat, Mira M.
- Graduate Program:
- Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 26, 2010
- Committee Members:
- Melissa Hardy, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Melissa Hardy, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Mark Hayward, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Valarie Elizabeth King, Committee Member
Jennifer Lynne Van Hook, Committee Member
Linda Ann Wray, Committee Member
Robert Schoen, Committee Member - Keywords:
- life table
marriage
health
mortality - Abstract:
- Although the association between marriage, health, and mortality at the individual level has been widely studied in the United States, less is known about marital status differences in population level indicators such as life expectancy, survival, and Active Life Expectancy (ALE), i.e. the number of years one can expect to spend free of major functional limitations. Population level information provides essential demographic descriptions of how life chances are patterned by marital status. ALE in particular has the advantage of examining health and mortality concurrently as opposed to separately as in many previous studies. In the last century, fundamental shifts in family and health systems produced trends such as retreat from marriage, increasing marital instability, higher life expectancies, and increases in chronic disease and functional limitations in the oldest part of the population. These trends underscore the importance of a continual examination of the relationship between marriage, health and mortality at the population level. This dissertation uses a life table approach to examine the population level consequences of marriage on health and survival by gender, age, and race. I analyze data from the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), a nationally-representative study of persons age 50 and older which began in 1992 and are followed up until 2006. Overall, results indicate that marriage is an important social institution for population health. The benefits of marriage are apparent in higher life expectancies and survival proportions. Although initial health status plays a significant role, married persons have lower prevalence of functional limitations and higher ALE. Experiencing marital dissolution in old age lowers life expectancy and survival while experiencing remarriage transition improves life expectancy and survival. Findings also show age, sex and race differences in the marriage benefits in life expectancy and survival. Men gain more from marriage than women. Nevertheless, women also clearly benefit from marriage, lose from marital dissolution, and gain from remarriage. Marriage benefits tend to decrease with age for men and accumulate with age for women. There are similar benefits of marriage for Black and White men. However, the survival benefit of marriage is higher among Black than White women.