Posted on 01/09/2005 10:11:35 AM PST by qam1
If women are looking for the key to long-lasting health, they should consider getting rid of their man.
That is one finding of research by two Queensland universities that reveals that divorced, widowed and single women in older age appear to be healthier than their married counterparts.
A man's health, however, appears to be unaffected by his marital status.
The surprise finding may help allay fears that the burgeoning group of older single females - products of the divorce surge of the 1970s and 1980s - will place an extra burden on health budgets.
The Queensland University and Queensland University of Technology study - Marriage dissolution and health amongst the elderly: the role of social and economic resources - was based on a sample of 2300 Australians over 60 and will be published in the forthcoming issue of the journal Just Policy.
It shows that divorced, widowed and never-married elderly women reported significantly better general health than married women, challenging long-held beliefs that married people had better overall physical and mental health than non-married.
"Maybe married women are worn out from looking after their husbands," said researcher Belinda Hewitt, of the school of social science at the University of Queensland.
However, women who were separated but not divorced reported poorer health than all other groups of females, giving rise to concerns that the needs of a small but growing group of elderly women are being overlooked.
"The separated women in our study had been separated on average for 20 years," Ms Hewitt, a PhD candidate, said. "Perhaps they had no sense of closure, and no divorce settlement, and socially and financially they were worse off than both the married and divorced."
The research shows Australia has more divorced and separated elderly people than ever before. Between 1991 and 2001 the numbers of separated or divorced Australians over 60 rose from 165,000 to more than 300,000, and their proportion of the population rose from 6.3 per cent to 9.6 per cent.
In 2003 the number of divorced women over 60 exceeded the number of widows for the first time. The number of divorced men over 60 nearly doubled over the same period. While some of the over-60 divorcees may remarry, most will remain single.
Ms Hewitt said it was widely accepted that married people had better social contacts and more social activities.
But the research shows elderly divorced, widowed and never-married women generally lead involved and active lives that are good for their health.
"They are not a bunch of frail and lonely people who are going to be a burden," Ms Hewitt said. "Maybe being married ties you more to the house and your partner."
Ms Hewitt said further study was needed to determine whether the findings were influenced by the sample. The data comes from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey - known as the HILDA - funded by the Federal Government. It excludes people who live in aged-care facilities.
"We know that single aged people are much more likely than the married to end up in aged-care facilities," Ms Hewitt said. "It is possible that the healthy non-married elderly are over-represented in our sample."
Gee, could it be because they did not have children and have no relatives to help care for them?
Well, they don't go through childbirth, and they can just dump Lean Cuisine in the shopping cart instead of cooking higher-fat meals for the rest of the families plus baking cookies and desserts. Seems pretty elementary.
This goes against everything I've read over the years. Married men live much longer than unmarried men. Think about all them en who die within a year of when their wives die.
Adele Horin obviously did not know my exwife.
BTW, single motherhood is extremely stressful, lonely, VERY hard work. I did it for years with three kids. My mother did it for 12 years, also with three kids.
This article is BS. I have NO intention of getting rid of my man. He provided the father figure my kids needed, keeps me warm at night, takes out the trash and feeds the dogs....etc. Nope, he's staying right where he is.
Just think- while these panty-clad professors were conducting this research, you and me were WORKING for a living. Unreal.
This statement would seem to contradict the headline. For women, as far as health concerns go, it doesn't much matter if they've been married or not. Taking care of an aging spouse can be an onerous burden. Since most women outlive their spouses by several years, this phase passes.
This is not a study, it is a brass-balls claim on unappropriated state funds.
Yep, several massive studies over the years have proven that married men live longer.
Married men live much longer than unmarried men. <<
It just seems longer.
DK LOL
The cranky old dorks are worth it.
Well, if that statement WERE correct, all those unmarried women wouldn't be winding up in old age homes...they'd be healthier and therefore supposedly BETTER able to take care of themselves than us feeble, worn-out-from-childbearing, married types. Besides, the author is a moron. Married wimen with kids are constantly active, playing with them, cleaning up after them, cooking for them etc. And then there are clubs and church groups, patent teacher associations, bake sales, committees, etc., etc., etc....
And then you have grandkids and sometimes wind up doing the same things all over again, just not as often.
"Maybe married women are worn out from looking after their husbands," said researcher Belinda Hewitt, of the school of social science at the University of Queensland.
Maybe she started with that hypothethis before doing her "research".
Hey, it saved Frodo...
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