Finances of Unmarried Elderly People over Time

Abstract

This research assessed the effect of widowhood, divorce, and life-long singleness on income and evaluations of finances at two points, and investigated factors associated with satisfaction with level of living in old age. Data were analyzed from two interviews with 2,047 older, unmarried men and women. Models explaining satisfaction with level of living were relatively similar for the marital status groups. Marital status affected the economic circumstances and perceptions of finances of women more often than men. The strains of divorce and widowhood for women and divorce for older men had an enduring influence on finances, and in the instance of men, were heightened over time.