Darius N. Lakdawalla
Robert F. Schoeni

http://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol8/10/

doi:10.4054/DemRes.2003.8.10

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Abstract
We investigate whether declines in the age difference between spouses has influenced widowhood and nursing home demand. We first use life-table methods to simulate the impact of the declining age gap on the risk of widowhood. We then use the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey and the Census Public Use Microdata Samples to estimate the impact of widowhood, and other characteristics, on the probability of nursing home entrance. These help us estimate the impact of the declining age gap on nursing home use. We estimate that the decline in the difference in ages between spouses that took place between the birth cohorts of 1900 and 1955 may raise women's annual nursing home expenditures by about $1.4 billion, but lower men's expenditures by about $600 million.

Author's affiliation
Darius N. Lakdawalla
RAND, United States of America
Robert F. Schoeni
University of Michigan Ann Arbor, United States of America

Keywords
age/aging, long-term care, marriage, nursing home

Word count (Main text)
6114

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