MARRIAGE, FAMILIES, AND RETIREMENT

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The proposed research focuses on interconnections between marriage, families, and retirement and proceeds from the assumption that individuals' experiences in the work and family spheres are closely linked throughout the life course, and that sociocultural and temporal context (i.e, gender, race, occupation, marital status, age) define the meaning contest of the retirement experience. It addresses the following research questions: (1) How do marital relationship characteristics affect retirement decisions? Do these effects differ by gender, race, occupation? (2) How do kin relationships and events affect retirement decisions? Do these effects vary by gender, race, occupation, and marital status? (3) How does retirement affect the marital relationship? Do such effects vary by gender, occupation, and age? (4) How does retirement affect kin relationships? Do such effects vary by gender, race, occupation, marital status, and age? Analyses will be based on panel data from waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households. Proportional hazard models will be used to assess predictors of couples' and individuals' labor force exits (or self-defined retirement). LISREL models and logistic regressions will be used to explore effects of retirement on marital quality and kin relationships. The project overcomes several limitations of past research: it relies on a large, nationally representative and longitudinal data set; it uses a dyadic approach and includes characteristics and relevant attitudes of both spouses as well as marital and family relationship characteristics; and it examines variations in the predictors of retirement dicisions and postretirement marital quality and kin contacts by gender, race, occupation, marital status, and age. It also has practical relevance for marriage and retirement preparation counselors as well as for retirement planners and policy makers concerned with potential impacts of Social Security and pension elegibility rules and of early retirement incentive programs on marriages and families. The investigation's health implications derive from the established relationships between physical health, mental health, and marital quality as well as kin supports.