In Sickness and in Health? Evidence on Health Shocks and Marital Instability

• In Event: Family Law, Family Structure, and Health and Well-Being

Abstract

Although the positive relationship between marriage and subsequent health outcomes and the selection of healthy individuals into marriage have both been well-documented, little is known about how health affects selection out of marriage through divorce. Using data from the PSID, I study the impact of various health shocks on marital instability. I find that being diagnosed with a serious medical condition causes a significant increase in divorce hazard that emerges within two years and persists for at least ten years. I am further able to show that the increase in separation hazard is larger for women: ten year divorce incidence is 20% higher following wives' health shocks than husbands'. I also evaluate several potential mechanisms, including financial impacts, behavioral changes, and care needs. The patterns in separations cannot be explained by lost income or increased health expenses. These results suggest that factors like behavioral effects, outside options, and social stigma shape the relationship between health events and divorce.

Author

• Maya Leung Roy, Harvard University
  Presenting Author