Abstract
Abstract While marital status appears to be protective for one's health, there is also evidence of gender differences in its protective influence. In short, men appear to differentially benefit from marriage compared to women. A growing body of work on later life cognitive functioning and dementia also finds protective effects for those who are married. But there is less evidence as to whether those patterns differ by gender. Using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, a nearly full life course longitudinal study, we find evidence that while there are no differences for men, married women, as compared to their unmarried counterparts, have lower levels of cognitive functioning at ~age 80. Differences in underlying health, educational attainment, and adolescent cognitive functioning do not explain the pattern. Similar to broader health, women do not appear to benefit from marriage in late life. Indeed, we find evidence of cognitive benefits of being single for older women.
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