Til Death Do Us Part: Marital Status and Mortality, 1986-2000

Hui Liu, University of Texas at Austin

Although the meanings and prevalence of being married, divorced, separated, never-married, or widowed have changed significantly over the past several decades in the United States, we know very little about whether and how the association between marital status and mortality has changed over time. Analysis of data from the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files 1986-2000 shows that mortality gap between the married and each of the unmarried groups—including the widowed, divorced, separated and never married widened across the 1986-2000 survey cohorts. Those trends toward widening morality gaps by marital status do not depend on gender or race. Implications for public policies on population health and marriage are discussed.