RETIREMENT AND MARITAL QUALITY

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The effect of retirement on martial quality has typically been examined in small-scale exploratory studies limited to a narrow range of marital content. Findings have been more suggestive than conclusive. The proposed project will investigate marital quality before and after retirement using a sample of sufficient size to permit multivariate data analyses. Specific aims are to compare retired couples with working couples regarding the correspondence between husbands' and wives' perceptions of their marital quality, and to compare retired husbands and their wives concerning their direct retrospective accounts about the effect of retirement on their marriage. The study population--500 individuals or 250 married couples--will be drawn from among the participants in the V.A. Normative Aging Study in boston. The project will separately interview marital partners from 125 couples in which the husband has retired within the last year (retired couples), along with partners from 125 age-peer couples in which the husband is employed full-time (working couples). Marital quality among individuals will be measured by standard assessments of marital adjustment, behavior complaints about the spouse, and household task responsibility. In addition, retired spouses will be asked for their direct retrospective views about the marital consequences of retirement. Interviews will gather other data about the household and about work and retirement experience. Multivariate statistical techniques will be used to test whether the similarity (by comparative mean level) and the consensus (by inter-spouse correlation) of husbands' and wives' views about their marital quality vary between working and retired couples. Regression models and multivariate analyses of variance will be used to control for factors (such as health, presence of children) that could confound worker-retiree comparisons. Among retired couples retrospective evaluations of the effect of retirement on marriage will be compared by gender and across circumstances of retirement using contingency table analysis. in addition, narrative data from open-ended questions will be examined to describe qualitatively the nature of marital gratifications and complaints as voiced by retired husbands and their wives. Accurate knowledge about the likely consequences of retirement will be of practical benefit to prospective retirees and their spouses, as well as to practitioners and planners concerned with the lifestyles of older couples.