WI23-Q2: Social Security Beneficiary Status and Repartnering after Gray Divorce

Objectives. The recent rise in gray divorce foretells corresponding increases in later life repartnering. Drawing on a rational choice framework that posits decisions to remarry or cohabit are responsive to one’s eligibility for benefits, we assessed whether receipt of Social Security benefits, and to a lesser extent the expectation of receiving benefits in the future, was a barrier to remarriage but unrelated to cohabitation after gray divorce.
Method. Using data from the 1998–2018 Health and Retirement Study, we estimated discrete-time event history models with multinomial logistic regression to predict repartnering, treating cohabitation and remarriage as competing risks. Models included a rich set of covariates including multiple indicators of resources (economic factors, health, social ties) and constraints (marital biography and demographic characteristics).
Results. Our expectation—that those receiving Social Security benefits would be least likely to remarry, followed by those expecting to receive benefits in the future, and lastly, those not expecting any benefits—was partially supported. Beneficiary receipt was negatively associated with remarriage compared with not expecting any benefits. Other group comparisons, however, did not achieve statistical significance. As expected, beneficiary status was not related to the formation of a cohabiting union. Among those who repartnered, receiving or expecting to receive benefits were both positively related to cohabitation versus remarriage. These patterns were robust to covariates.
Discussion. Our study contributes to a growing literature documenting the linkages between eligibility rules for benefits and family behaviors, underscoring the salience of these public programs for the well-being of older adults.