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Does Marriage Make You Healthier?

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  • Nezih Guner
  • Yuliya Kulikova
  • Joan Llull

Abstract

We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to study the relationship between marriage and health for working-age (20 to 64) individuals. In both data sets married agents are healthier than unmarried ones, and the health gap between married and unmarried agents widens by age. After controlling for observables, a gap of about 12 percentage points in self-reported health persists for ages 55-59. We estimate the marriage health gap non-parametrically as a function of age. If we allow for unobserved heterogeneity in innate permanent health, potentially correlated with timing and likelihood of marriage, we find that the effect of marriage on health disappears at younger (20-39) ages, while about 6 percentage points difference between married and unmarried individuals, about half of the total gap, remains at older (55-59) ages. These results indicate that association between marriage and health is mainly driven by selection into marriage at younger ages, while there might be a protective effect of marriage at older ages. We analyze how selection and protective effects of marriage show up in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Nezih Guner & Yuliya Kulikova & Joan Llull, 2014. "Does Marriage Make You Healthier?," Working Papers 795, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:795
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ryan D. Edwards, 2018. "If My Blood Pressure Is High, Do I Take It to Heart? Behavioral Effects of Biomarker Collection in the Health and Retirement Study," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 403-434, April.
    2. Joan Gil, 2016. "Is Marriage Protecting your Health in Recession Times?," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2016-19, FEDEA.
    3. Johannes Schuenemann & Holger Strulik & Timo Trimborn, 2020. "The Marriage Gap: Optimal Aging and Death in Partnerships," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 36, pages 158-176, April.
    4. Pilar Zueras & Roberta Rutigliano & Sergi Trias-Llimós, 2020. "Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(5), pages 627-636, June.
    5. Li-Chung Hu, 2021. "Marital Status and Self-Rated Health in China: A Longitudinal Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 499-531, June.
    6. Margherita Borella & Mariacristina De Nardi & Eric French, 2018. "Who Receives Medicaid in Old Age? Rules and Reality," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(1), pages 65-93, March.
    7. Kazuma Sato, 2020. "Does marriage improve subjective health in Japan?," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 247-286, April.
    8. Sebastian Franke & Hill Kulu, 2018. "Mortality Differences by Partnership Status in England and Wales: The Effect of Living Arrangements or Health Selection?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 87-118, February.
    9. Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Relationship between marital status and body mass index in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 813-841, September.
    10. Bijwaard, Govert & Alessie, Rob & Angelini, Viola, 2018. "The Effect of Early Life Health on Later Life Home Care Use: The Mediating Role of Household Composition," IZA Discussion Papers 11729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Pilar Zueras & Roberta Rutigliano & Sergi Trias-Llimós, 0. "Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-10.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health; marriage; selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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