A national portrait of the well-being of remarried and previously married cohabiting older adults

Objectives
Mounting evidence signals that cohabitation operates as an alternative to remarriage in later life. However, others have maintained that cohabitation is an incomplete institution marked by less favorable outcomes than remarriage. We appraise these two frameworks by examining the well-being of remarried and previously married cohabiting older adults.

Method
Drawing on the 2010–2020 Health and Retirement Study, we assessed whether remarried and previously married cohabiting older adults differed in their depressive symptoms and loneliness. We also tested whether the association between relationship quality and well-being varied by union type.

Results
Among women, cohabitors reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than their remarried counterparts. In contrast, union type was not appreciably associated with men’s depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, among men, cohabitors reported less loneliness, on average, than did those in remarriages. No corresponding union-type differential emerged among women. Additionally, the association between relationship quality and psychological well-being did not differ by union type for both men and women.

Conclusion
Our study largely aligns with the notion that cohabitation functions as an alternative to remarriage in later life. The growth of cohabitation among older adults, coupled with its distinct purpose during this life stage, underscores the importance of advancing this nascent line of inquiry into its role in older adults’ well-being.