Do Marriage and Cohabitation Provide Benefits to Health in Mid-Life? The Role of Childhood Selection Mechanisms and Partnership Characteristics across Countries

Download as .RIS

Citation

Perelli-Harris, Brienna; Hoherz, Stefanie; Addo, Fenaba R.; Lappegård, Trude; Evans, Ann; Sassler, Sharon; & Styrc, Marta (2018). Do Marriage and Cohabitation Provide Benefits to Health in Mid-Life? The Role of Childhood Selection Mechanisms and Partnership Characteristics across Countries. Population Research and Policy Review, 37(5), 703-728. PMCID: PMC6267248

Abstract

Extensive research has found that marriage provides health benefits to individuals, particularly in the U.S. The rise of cohabitation, however, raises questions about whether simply being in an intimate co-residential partnership conveys the same health benefits as marriage. Here, we use OLS regression to compare differences between partnered and unpartnered, and cohabiting and married individuals with respect to self-rated health in mid-life, an understudied part of the lifecourse. We pay particular attention to selection mechanisms arising in childhood and characteristics of the partnership. We compare results in five countries with different social, economic, and policy contexts: the U.S. (NLSY), U.K. (UKHLS), Australia (HILDA), Germany (SOEP), and Norway (GGS). Results show that living with a partner is positively associated with self-rated health in mid-life in all countries, but that controlling for children, prior separation, and current socio-economic status eliminates differences in Germany and Norway. Significant differences between cohabitation and marriage are only evident in the U.S. and the U.K., but controlling for childhood background, union duration, and prior union dissolution eliminates partnership differentials. The findings suggest that cohabitation in the U.S. and U.K., both liberal welfare regimes, seems to be very different than in the other countries. The results challenge the assumption that only marriage is beneficial for health.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11113-018-9467-3

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2018

Journal Title

Population Research and Policy Review

Author(s)

Perelli-Harris, Brienna
Hoherz, Stefanie
Addo, Fenaba R.
Lappegård, Trude
Evans, Ann
Sassler, Sharon
Styrc, Marta

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC6267248

Data Set/Study

National Longitudinal Studys (NLS)
UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS)
Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey
Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)
Generations and Gender Survey (GGS)

Continent/Country

United States of America
United Kingdom
Germany
Norway
Australia

State

Nonspecific

ORCiD

Addo - 0000-0003-1935-3300