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The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men

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  • Kenneth Couch
  • Christopher Tamborini
  • Gayle Reznik

Abstract

We provide new evidence on the long-term impact of divorce on work disability among U.S. men. Using data from the 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation linked to U.S. Social Security Administration records, we assess the relationship between divorce and subsequent self-reports of work limitations and the receipt of federal disability benefits. The examination of self-reports and administrative records of medically qualified benefits provides dual confirmation of key relationships. We compare men who experienced a marital dissolution between 1975 and 1984 with continuously married men for 20 years following divorce using fixed-effects and propensity score matching models, and choose a sample to help control for selection into divorce. On average, we find that divorce is not associated with an increased probability of self-reported work limitations or receipt of disability benefits over the long run. However, among those who do not remarry, we do find that divorce increases men’s long-term probability of both self-reported work limitations and federal disability benefit receipt. Lack of marital resources may drive this relationship. Alternative estimates that do not control for selection into divorce demonstrate that selection bias can substantially alter findings regarding the relationship between marital status changes and subsequent health. Copyright Population Association of America 2015

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  • Kenneth Couch & Christopher Tamborini & Gayle Reznik, 2015. "The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1487-1512, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:52:y:2015:i:5:p:1487-1512
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0424-z
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    2. Siwei Cheng & Christopher R. Tamborini & ChangHwan Kim & Arthur Sakamoto, 2019. "Educational Variations in Cohort Trends in the Black-White Earnings Gap Among Men: Evidence From Administrative Earnings Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2253-2277, December.
    3. Iris Meulman & Bette Loef & Niek Stadhouders & Tron Anders Moger & Albert Wong & Johan J. Polder & Ellen Uiters, 2023. "Estimating healthcare expenditures after becoming divorced or widowed using propensity score matching," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(7), pages 1047-1060, September.
    4. Richard Hauser & Richard V. Burkhauser & Kenneth A. Couch & Gulgun Bayaz-Ozturk, 2016. "Wife or Frau, Women Still Do Worse: A Comparison of Men and Women in the United States and Germany after Union Dissolutions in the 1990s and 2000s," Working papers 2016-39, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    5. Christopher R. Tamborini, 2021. "Family and Health over the Past Decade: Review of Selected Studies and Areas of Future Inquiry," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 62-69, July.
    6. Solveig Glestad Christiansen & Øystein Kravdal, 2023. "Union Status and Disability Pension," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Daniel Brüggmann & Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2023. "Earnings Trajectories After Divorce: The Legacies of the Earner Model During Marriage," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-34, April.
    8. Øystein Kravdal & Jonathan Wörn, 2023. "Mental and Physical Health Trajectories of Norwegian Parents and Children before and after Union Dissolution," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 49(1), pages 71-103, March.

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