This article bridges the literatures on the economic consequences of divorce for women with that on marital transitions and health by focusing on women's health insurance. Using a monthly calendar of marital status and health insurance coverage from 1,442 women in the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine how women's health…

This study measures the longitudinal effect of disability on earnings, marriage, and divorce. The data come from the Survey of Income and Program Participation matched to administrative data on longitudinal earnings. Using event-study methods, the results show that the onset of a work-preventing disability is associated with a precipitous decline…

This study is the first to explore the relationship between cohabitation and U.S. adult mortality using a nationally representative sample. Using data from the National Health Interview Survey-Longitudinal Mortality Follow-up files 1997-2004 (N = 193,851), the authors found that divorced, widowed, and never-married White men had higher mortality…

The consequences of divorce are pronounced for parents of young children, and cohabitation dissolution is increasing in this population and has important implications. The mental health consequences of union dissolution were examined, by union type and parental gender, using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ("n" = 1,998 for mothers…

Purpose: As part of an ongoing effort to analyze the distributional implications of potential policy reforms to the U.S. Social Security system, we consider the widely discussed reform of earnings sharing. Such an approach has been viewed as a way to "update" Social Security's family benefits based on marital status and as a means to…

Framed by equity theory, fairness beliefs regarding child support modification to account for the financial impact of remarriage and subsequent childbirth were assessed. Based on a random sample of 407 Kentucky residents using a multiple segment factorial vignette approach, modification was supported by 57% of respondents following remarriage, but…

A study of 320 women, ages 21 to 69, explored the relations among relationship status, subjective age, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Women in married or partnered relationships had higher levels of life satisfaction than did single women. Women in their 30s and 40s had significantly lower levels of life satisfaction than did other age…

Robert Hummer and Erin Hamilton note that the prevalence of fragile families varies substantially by race and ethnicity. African Americans and Hispanics have the highest prevalence; Asian Americans, the lowest; and whites fall somewhere in the middle. The share of unmarried births is lower among most foreign-born mothers than among their U.S.-born…

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…

Policies governing divorce and parenting, such as child support orders and enforcement, child custody regulations, and marital dissolution requirements, can have a large impact on the welfare of parents and children. Recent research has produced evidence on the responses of divorce rates to unilateral divorce laws and child support enforcement. In…

Examined three types of marital separation: those leading to divorce, those leading to reconciliation, and long-tern unresolved separations. Data from National Longitudinal Surveys cohort of mature women from 1967-1982 revealed important differences among groups of separating women in education, income, and race. (Author/NB)

Assessed effects of widowhood, divorce, and lifelong singleness on income and evaluations of finances at two points, and investigated factors associated with satisfaction with level of living in old age. Analysis of data from two interviews with 2,047 older adults revealed that marital status affected economic circumstances and perceptions of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of divorce on student's academic achievement. Whitehead (1997) states, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were only three divorces for every 1,000 marriages. Through the years, the divorce rate in America has rapidly increased which has affected adults and children. The…

This speech focuses on women and private pension plans, such as private pension coverage and smaller benefit amounts. Pension issues affecting women as employees include participation in plans, vesting, break-in service, benefit accruals, integration with Social Security, sex-based actuarial tables, portability, inflation, and individual…

A study was conducted in Kentucky to increase the database available to the state's decision makers concerning women in relation to family status, occupational participation, income and earnings, and issues and concerns that may need greater emphases. Data were gathered through Kentucky government agencies and the U.S. Bureau of the Census as well…