Partnerships in later life

Pearl A. Dykstra

Chapter Chapter 14 in Research Handbook on Partnering across the Life Course, 2025, pp 165-177 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: As societies are aging, an increasing number of partnerships are late-life, long-lasting partnerships. Fifty-year wedding anniversaries are not as exceptional as they used to be. In this chapter, I first provide demographic information on later-life partnerships, showing that more and more older adults have complex relationship biographies. Following the premise that the quality of partnerships is an important determinant of later-life well-being, I address three questions. Given the paucity of research on same-sex relationships at later life course stages, the focus is on opposite-sex relationships. The first question addresses marital quality in later life. Longitudinal studies show that the quality of later-life marriages compares to that of earlier stages of the marital trajectory, but the set points of marital happiness vary. The second question concerns the diversity among later-life partnerships. Research on this topic (insofar it exists) shows few differences in quality among co-residential unions (marriages and cohabitations), but LAT-relationships seem to be quite distinct. LAT-relationships tend to score the lowest on all the measures of relationship quality. The third question focuses on the effects of later-life transitions for the quality of partnerships. Contrary to popular images, retirement and the empty nest tend not to upset the dynamics in later-life partnerships. Nevertheless, there is evidence of tensions in specific circumstances. Women’s marital quality appears to be more strongly related to their partners’ decline in health than men’s. At the end of the chapter, I provide suggestions for further research.

Keywords: Marital quality; Later life transitions; Partnership diversity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803923376
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