Adverse effects of widowhood in Europe

Abstract

I investigate the relationship between widowhood and the financial situation among women aged 50 and above in Europe. The results of the paper are based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and its retrospective third wave (SHARELIFE). Using retrospective data makes it possible to analyze the dynamics of the adverse effects of widowhood. I estimate both the short run and long run effects of widowhood on financial circumstances, health, and labor force status. I argue that not only the lack of the deceased husband's income, but also the worse health condition and earlier retirement of widows contribute to the unfavorable financial conditions, although these indirect effects are small. I also analyze the role survivors' pensions have in mitigating the adverse effects of widowhood, and provide evidence for varying compensating effects of survivors' pensions in the European countries analyzed.

The relationship between health and partnership history in adulthood: insights through retrospective information from Europeans aged 50 and over

“…In our opinion, several factors might contribute to buffering the potential effect of widowhood on the hazard of poor health: (1) the range of ages is retrospectively analyzed (30-64 years) that reduces the probabilities of widowhood, and (2) the set of provisions from the welfare state that mitigates the negative effect of this episode. Using SHARELIFE data, Biró (2013) pointed out the complexity of the relationship between widowhood, economic restrictions, and health with regard to different welfare policies across European countries (i.e., the characteristics of pension systems, the degree of female participation in the labor market, and the development of private annuity).…”

Gendered work–family life courses and financial well-being in retirement

“…On the one hand, divorced, separated or widowed persons, especially women, face elevated poverty risks in old age because they lack access to a spouse's income (e.g. Bíró, 2013;Bütler et al, 2004). On the other hand, women who were never married tend to have higher individual pension income than continuously married women, albeit the difference varies across countries (Fasang et al, 2013).…”

The role of the welfare state in supporting economic transitions following family bereavement: Comparing Britain and Israel

“…Contemporary critical literature, however, has rightly demonstrated that grief is not necessarily confinable to a universal, predictable, linear, stage‐like and time‐bound process (Breen & O'Connor, ; Harris, ; Thompson, ). Consequently, the financial difficulties involved are clearly not a short‐term phenomenon, with many studies even suggesting that they tend to exacerbate with the duration of widowhood (Bíró, ; Sevak, Weir, & Willis, ). Given the “roller coaster” nature of grief (Doka, ), a static understanding of bereavement, as in the UK and Israel, means that many bereaved families and individuals are likely to remain without adequate support.…”

“…In contrast to conventional modernist grief theories, which assume “normal” grief to be a short‐term, finite, quasi‐linear, and predictable process, contemporary critical theories and research suggest that “grief, like death itself, is undisciplined, risky” and “wild” (Foote & Frank, , p. 170; see also Breen & O'Connor, ). Considering this “undisciplined” nature of the phenomenon, we should note that death has both short‐ and long‐term economic consequences (Bíró, ). The former include loss of working hours due to bureaucratic arrangements related to the death or the immediate emotional effect of grief, while the latter include loss of working hours due to care duties or long‐lasting grief.…”