The Influence of Economic Factors on the Relationship between Partnership Status and Health: A Gender Approach to the Spanish Case.

Jordi Gumà-Lao

doi:10.3390/ijerph19052975

Abstract

This study explores the relevance of economic factors (e.g., a household’s economic capacity and the prevailing economic context) to understand the relationship between the partnership status and the health of Spanish adult women and men (age 30–59). To do so, it draws on cross-sectional data from the Spanish sample of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for the years 2005, 2010, and 2015 (i.e., before, during, and after the 2008–2012 economic recession). The results reveal dissimilar patterns of association between partnership status and both the health of, and the economic difficulties faced by Spanish women and men in each of the three years studied. Most notably, the partnership status of Spanish women has a greater impact on their likelihood of experiencing economic difficulties and poor health than does that of their male counterparts. Additionally, women are also more likely to experience economic difficulties during and after the economic recession. The disadvantageous situation of Spanish women in the public sphere is shown to have a negative impact on their ability to cope with the economic difficulties associated with the end of a union and a contextual recession.

Highlights

The role played by partnership status as a social determinant of health has been extensively examined using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data and by analyzing a variety of health indicators, including mortality, subjective health, and objective health, among others [1,2]
It seems reasonable to hypothesize that the economic context may condition the relationship between partnership status and health, either by increasing the likelihood of those who do not live with a partner of experiencing economic difficulties or by modifying the magnitude of the association between different union situations, and poor health
In the case of partnership status, while similar percentages of women and men are in a union, a higher percentage of women are separated, divorced, or widowed and a higher percentage of men are single

Summary

Introduction

The role played by partnership status as a social determinant of health has been extensively examined using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data and by analyzing a variety of health indicators, including mortality, subjective health, and objective health, among others [1,2]. The effect of registered partnership status (being in a union or not) on health has been clearly demonstrated, with being in a union having a positive impact on health [1,17] This beneficial effect has been attributed to three basic mechanisms: first, those in a union are subjected to increased control of their risky behaviors and unhealthy habits, both by their partners and society; second, being in a union creates and maintains a social support network beyond that of the immediate household that the couple can fall back on in critical situations; and third, living with a partner can increase material well-being thanks to the combination and optimization of resources through the task specialization of family members. The detrimental effects of divorce on social status and well-being seem not to be reversed even with the passage of time and the formation of a new union [18], suggesting that the levels of health reported during the first union are not always recovered [19,20]

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