Living arrangements and marital status: a register-based study of survival of older adults in Belgium at the beginning of the 21st century
- 7 September 2015
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Ageing and Society
- Vol. 36 (10), 2141-2162
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x15001002
Abstract
Being married reduces the mortality risk of older persons. More generally, living arrangements that include co-residence with a source of support and a close care-giver are associated with a lower mortality risk. We build a detailed typology of private and collective living arrangements, including marital status, and check its association with mortality risks, controlling for health status. Using administrative data from the population register, we identify the living arrangement of all individuals aged 65 years and over living in Belgium as at 1 January 2002, and their survival during the year 2002. Data on health status are extracted from the 2001 census. We use binary logistic regression with the probability to die as outcome and living arrangement, health, age and gender as covariates. Our results show that mortality is more closely associated with actual living arrangements than with marital status. This association is age and gender-specific and remains even at very old ages. Living with a spouse is confirmed to be beneficial for survival but in older age living alone becomes more favourable. Of all living arrangements, older persons living in religious communities experience the lowest mortality risk whereas those living in nursing homes experience the highest risk.Keywords
This publication has 31 references indexed in Scilit:
- Excess Mortality Risks in Institutions: The Influence of Health and Disability StatusPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,2014
- Ageing in an aged society: experiences and attitudes of Catholic order members towards population ageing and older peopleAgeing and Society, 2013
- Do the Married Really Live Longer? The Role of Cohabitation and Socioeconomic StatusJournal of Marriage and Family, 2012
- Marital history 1971–91 and mortality 1991–2004 in England & Wales and FinlandJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010
- Household transitions and subsequent mortality among older people in England and Wales: trends over three decadesJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010
- Official marital status, cohabiting, and self-rated health—time trends in Finland, 1978–2001European Journal of Public Health, 2006
- Magnitude and causes of mortality differences between married and unmarried men.Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 1993
- Age Differences in Marriage and Female LongevityJournal of Marriage and Family, 1989
- Male Longevity and Age Differences Between SpousesJournal of Gerontology, 1984
- Factors associated with mortality after widowhood.American Journal of Public Health, 1981