Journal Article
Cognitive impairment and partnership status in the United States, 1998–2016, by sex, race/ethnicity, and education
Population Studies, 1–11 (2023)
Abstract
Cognitively impaired adults without a partner are highly disadvantaged, as partners constitute an importantsource of caregiving and emotional support. With the application of innovative multistate models to theHealth and Retirement Study, this paper is the first to estimate joint expectancies of cognitive andpartnership status at age 50 by sex, race/ethnicity, and education in the United States. We find thatwomen live a decade longer unpartnered than men. Women are also disadvantaged as they experience three more years as both cognitively impaired and unpartnered than men. Black women live over twiceas long as cognitively impaired and unpartnered compared with White women. Lower-educated menand women live around three and five years longer, respectively, as cognitively impaired andunpartnered than more highly educated men and women. This study addresses a novel facet ofpartnership and cognitive status dynamics and examines their variations by key socio-demographic factors.