Marital Relationships as a Cause of Death: An Analysis of Occupational Mortality and the Hidden Consequences of Marriage—Some U.K. Data

Abstract

There are very large and specific effects of employees' occupations on their life expectancy or mortality rates. In addition, there is an astonishingly close association between the mortality rates of men classified by their own occupation and married women classified by their husband's occupation. The implication of this finding is that a married woman's life expectancy is significantly affected by the occupation her husband is engaged in. It is argued that these two findings cannot be explained by marital partners sharing similar socioeconomic-environmental circumstances; nor by the psychological effects of bereavement; or the transfer of chemical/physical substances and diseases between partners. It is suggested that while each of these factors may have an additive effect on the association reported, they cannot collectively account for its magnitude and occupational specificity. An explanation of the association must center on the occupational risks that males are exposed to at work (particularly the psychological stressors). It is proposed that these occupational risks are transmitted, via the domestic psychological environment, to married women. Thus the males' job risks affect the life expectancy of both partners.