Recent studies linking marital status and health increasingly focus on marital trajectories to examine the relationship from a life course perspective. However, research has been slow to bridge the theoretical concept of a marital trajectory with its measurement. This study uses retrospective and prospective data to model the age-dependent effects…

Examined data from national stratified probability sample in which divorced and widowed, particularly divorced and widowed men, were oversampled. Compared to married and, to lesser extent never married, psychological well-being of divorced and widowed was poor. Psychological well-being of divorced males, divorced females, and widowed females was…

Via a simultaneous analysis of different life course pathways (marital, occupational, and childbearing histories) and different outcomes, this article addresses the question When does childlessness matter in late life and how? Survey data from Amsterdam (N = 661) and Berlin, Germany (N = 516) are used. Lifelong childlessness results in smaller…

Examined relationship between social support coverage and well-being in 4 subgroups from national sample of women over age 50: first married (N=151); widows (N=144); widows within last 5 years (N=60); and widows for over 5 years (N=84). Results revealed that relationships between social support and well-being were positive in some groups and…