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Spousal Retirement, Mental Health, and Household Resource Allocation: Evidence from Married Couples in China

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  • Sixian Shu
  • Midori Wakabayashi

Abstract

This paper examines how spousal retirement affects psychological well-being in Chinese households using 2016–2020 China Family Panel Survey data. Exploiting statutory retirement ages as instruments in a two-stage least squares framework, we identify causal effects of retirement transitions. Results show clear gender asymmetries in these spillover effects. For men, a wife’s retirement increases life satisfaction regardless of the husband’s labor-force status, with further gains in depression and marital satisfaction once both partners retire. For women, a husband’s retirement raises depressive symptoms while the wife remains employed, but this effect disappears after her own retirement, when life satisfaction significantly improves. Mechanism analyses suggest these effects operate through gender-differentiated adjustments in household labor allocation and joint consumption patterns. These findings underscore that retirement in China is a collective family-level transition rather than an individual event, highlighting the role of institutional constraints and gender norms in shaping the welfare of aging couples.

Suggested Citation

  • Sixian Shu & Midori Wakabayashi, 2026. "Spousal Retirement, Mental Health, and Household Resource Allocation: Evidence from Married Couples in China," TUPD Discussion Papers 84, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    • Handle: RePEc:toh:tupdaa:84
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