Investigating the link between partnership and health

Professor Hill Kulu and Dr Júlia Mikolai have been investigating health and mortality by partnership status in England and Wales and analysing the causes of mortality differences, using combined data from the British Household Panel Survey and the UK Household Longitudinal Study.

Published in Demography, their work has found that partnered people have a lower risk of dying compared to those without partners. While there is some evidence that healthier people are more likely to get into and stay in a partnership, the difference in mortality between partnered and nonpartnered people remains even after this is considered. This supports the idea that being in a partnership, whether married or not, is good for your health.

Further reading

Partnership status, health, and mortality: Selection or protection? (Demography)