For better or worse? Chronic illness, couple-level responses and union dissolution

Presenter: Jack Lam, University of Queensland, Australia

In this paper, we examine the effects of an illness onset on the stability of marital unions. We first examine whether the onset of a health condition may be associated with the likelihood of union dissolution, and whether there may be potential gender differences. Next, we consider possible couple-level responses to a spouse’s illness, investigating changes in their partners’ employment, housework and caregiving, testing whether these factors may associate with union dissolution. Using competing-risks models and drawing on fourteen waves of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we find that union dissolution is more likely when the male partner experiences an illness onset. Further, we find that in light of men’s entry into a chronic condition, their wives’ entry into employment lowers the risk of relationship dissolution.