The effect of marital status on life expectancy: Is cohabitation as protective as marriage?

Anne G. Balter, Dorethe S. Bjerre and Malene Kallestrup-Lamb
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Anne G. Balter: Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Tilburg University and Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement (Netspar), The Netherlands
Dorethe S. Bjerre: Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University
Malene Kallestrup-Lamb: Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University and Pension Research Center (PeRCent), Copenhagen Business School

JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, 2023, vol. 89, issue 3, 373-394

Abstract: It is well-known that marital status is an important predictor for life expectancy. However, non-married individuals are often misclassified as singles which ignores the heterogeneity within the group. This paper shows the importance of distinguishing between types of singles, and in particular whether they are cohabiting, when predicting life expectancies. We use unique and detailed longitudinal register data to track marital status throughout the individual's lifetime. We find that all types of singles consistently benefit from living with a spouse, i.e., after divorce, becoming widower or being never married. This result holds for both men and women. For certain types of cohabiting singles we reject significant differences in life expectancy compared to married individuals. Finally, we use a case study to show that, like married individuals, all types of singles that cohabit also serve as informal caregivers and have the potential to limit the end-of-life long-term care expenditure levels.

Keywords: Cohabitation; Health expanditure; Life expectations; Longevity; Marital status; Mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 J11 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-09-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvde:v:89:y:2023:i:3:p:373-394

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