Do Family Ties Reduce Mortality? Evidence from the United States, 1966-1968

National survey data are used to compute mortality rates for persons in different living arrangements. Mortality is lower for married persons than for nonmarried persons; lower for married persons with children than for those without children; and lower for nonmarried persons who are household heads...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marriage and family 1977-11, Vol.39 (4), p.737-745
Main Authors: Kobrin, Frances E., Hendershot, Gerry E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Death
Family members
Family/Families
Gender roles
Health/Healthy
Households
Kin/Kinship
Living alone
Living arrangements
Marital status
Marriage & Family
Men
Mortality
Mortality (see also Death, Dying)
Relations, family
Social integration
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Description
Summary:National survey data are used to compute mortality rates for persons in different living arrangements. Mortality is lower for married persons than for nonmarried persons; lower for married persons with children than for those without children; and lower for nonmarried persons who are household heads than for those who are not heads. Two approaches are considered: (1) social processes select healthy persons to the statuses of spouse, parent, and household head; (2) those statuses protect their occupants against risk of death. The protection hypothesis succeeds better than the selection hypothesis in accounting plausibly for the sex and age pattern of status differences in mortality.
ISSN:0022-2445
1741-3737
DOI:10.2307/350478