Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe

OBJECTIVES: We study the role of marital status and living arrangements in mortality among a 50+ population living in Europe by gender and welfare states. METHODS: Using data from waves 4, 5, and 6 of the Survey of Health Age and Retirement in Europe (n = 54,171), we implemented Cox proportional hazard models by gender and age groups (50–64 and 65–84). We estimated pooled models and separated models for two regions representing different welfare states (South-East and North-West). RESULTS: Among people aged 50–64, nonpartnered individuals (except never-married women) showed a higher mortality risk as compared with those partnered. Among the older population (65–84), divorce was associated with higher mortality among men, but not among women, and living with someone other than a partner was associated with higher mortality risk as compared to those partnered. In the South-East region living with a partner at ages 50–64 was associated with lower mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Partnership and residential status are complementary for understanding the role of family dimensions in mortality. The presence of a partner is mortality protective, especially among 50–64-year-old men in South-East Europe. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00038-020-01371-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.