Widowhood and grey divorce

Michaela Kreyenfeld and Sarah Schmauk

Chapter Chapter 15 in Research Handbook on Partnering across the Life Course, 2025, pp 178-190 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The death of a partner and union dissolution both mark the endpoint of a partnership. However, as these events previously primarily occurred at different life course stages, they have generally been investigated in separate strands of literature. With the growing prevalence of divorce at later ages, however, research on widowhood and “grey divorce” has moved closer together. This chapter examines whether and to what extent the findings on the consequences of grey divorce mirror the existing results on the consequences of widowhood. Attention is also given to the different ways in which welfare states buffer the adverse effects of the death of a partner and divorce on individuals’ economic wellbeing at advanced ages. While this chapter seeks to summarize achievements regarding grey divorce research, we conclude with a critical discussion, which, among other things, reflects on the use of universal and fixed cut-off ages (such as age 50) to define grey divorce.

Keywords: Divorce; Grey divorce; Separation; Welfare state; Social policies; Widowhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803923376
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