Spillover effects of retirement: Does health vulnerability matter?

The current literature investigating the impact of retirement and the associated spousal spillover effects overlooks the unintended effects of retirement on spouses in vulnerable health, namely spouses with long-term health conditions (LTHCs). In this paper, we fill this gap in the literature and investigate the impact of an individual’s retirement on their partner’s health outcomes when their partner has LTHCs. Given the inherent identification challenges associated with entry into retirement, we use the pension-qualifying age in Australia as an instrument. Based on data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, we find that the husband’s retirement has a positive impact on the wife’s quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and other physical and mental health outcomes. We also identify redistribution of domestic workload as a key transmission mechanism of the spousal spillover effects. Women with LTHCs will see their QALY and health improve only if their husband devotes more time to domestic tasks after retirement.     

Characteristics of Malignant Tumors in 230 Husband–Wife Pairs

The aim of this study is to obtain a reference point for early detection of tumors in individuals whose spouses were diagnosed with malignant tumors. Data from 230 husband and wife pairs with malignant tumors were collected and analyzed from the family history records of 15,000 people who came to the Department of Cancer Prevention, Cancer Institute/Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences for cancer screening between January 2009 and May 2012. The median diagnosis age was 67 years for husbands and 65 years for wives. A total of 214 cases (46.5 %) had digestive system malignancies. Respiratory system cancers were diagnosed in 64 husbands, of whom 20 (31.3 %) had spouses also with respiratory system cancer. Lung cancer ranked first for the females. The total number of lung cancer and commonly seen female-specific cancers (breast, ovarian, uterine, and cervical) was 127 (55.2 %). The difference in age at diagnosis between spouses was less than 10 years in 134 couples (58.3 %), while 77 (33.5 %) couples had an age difference less than 5 years. A family history of malignant tumors in first-degree relatives was documented in 48.3 % of the husbands and 48.7 % of the wives. The occurrence of cancer in both spouses of the couples studied resulted from an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Nonhereditary factors such as diet, smoking, passive smoking, and air pollution also contributed to the development of cancers. It is recommended that when husband is diagnosed with cancer, the wife should be screened focusing on lung, breast, and gynecological cancers. If the wife was diagnosed with malignant disease, then screening for lung and digestive system cancers should be emphasized in the husband.     

Determinants of contraceptive use and method choice in Turkey

In this study, the determinants of contraceptive use and method choice are examined based on various variables, classified as individual, cultural, fertility and contextual. The data used came from the 1993 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey. The main finding is that there exists a positive association between the educational level of both spouses and the use of contraceptive methods in Turkey. After all individual, cultural, fertility and contextual variables are controlled, a woman's education is a stronger predictor of method use and method choice than that of her husband. Increasing the educational level of women may be the most effective means of advancing family planning acceptance and increasing the demand for contraceptive services in Turkey. The study also shows that, to a great extent, contraceptive use and choice of modern method depend on the sex of a couple's living children, implying some preference for sons, although generally women prefer to have children of both sexes.     

The norm for perceived husband superiority: A cause of human assortative marriage

Abstract

I have suggested that human assortative marriage for a number of variables is partially caused by behavior in accordance with two norms. Epstein and Guttman (1987) have suggested that there is no empirical evidence for these norms. In this note evidence is reviewed for the norm of perceived husband‐superiority. Others have shown that the evidence for this norm is strong in regard to height, and it is shown here that the evidence is strong also in regard to age. Evidence for the norm seems suggestive in regard to IQ, education, and social class, and nonexistent in regard to physical attractiveness. With respect to height, it seems that the magnitude of the correlation between spouses is associated with the size of the breeding population to which they belong. Thus, it seems likely that the hypothesized norms are learned rather than genetically coded.     

Spouses' socioeconomic characteristics and fertility differences in sub-Saharan Africa: does spouse's education matter?

Although the general objective of this study is to examine the extent to which spouses' socioeconomic characteristics determine whether modern contraception is used and whether family limitation (the demand for no more children) is desired, its central goal is to evaluate the degree to which the net effect of a woman's education on those fertility decisions is altered once a control is made for the level of schooling of the husband. Individual characteristics of spouses included as controls in this analysis are on the one hand women's attributes relating to employment, age, parity, ethnic identity, and urban residence and, on the other hand, the occupation of the husband. Data used in this research are provided by DHS surveys conducted in fourteen sub-Saharan countries: Mali. Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal. Ghana, Central African Republic, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Rwanda. With two dichotomous outcome variables, logistic regression was used to estimate two nested models for each dependent variable and for each country covered by the study. DHS respondents used as units of analysis in this study are women who were married (any kind of union) and non-pregnant at the time when each national survey was conducted. The findings suggest that, while an educated wife needs the support of an educated husband to state a preference for family limitation in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, controlling for husband's education and other relevant covariates does little to undermine the evidence that woman's advanced education and the adoption of modern family planning are positively related in the developing world.     

Assortative mating in monozygotic twins

Abstract

This study investigated assortative mating in a series of monozygotic twins in terms of anthropométrie variables. Initially the twins were analyzed independent of each other, and the results showed fairly clear homogamy among female MZ twins and their spouses, after correcting for age. Further, when stature was partialled out, several anthropometric measures remained significantly correlated. The results for male MZ twins and their spouses were not nearly so clear‐cut. A second analysis treated the co‐twins together, and once again, the female MZ sets tended to show assortative mate choice for stature while the male MZ twins/spouses were not significantly correlated. A follow‐up analysis investigated whether husbands of the female twins were correlated to each other, and negative results were found for all of the 46 anthropometric variables. An apparent contradiction was resolved in the case of stature by regressing spouse stature against that of the co‐twins. It was found that although each of the twins was assortatively mating, one member of the twin set consistently married a taller husband, but the difference was not constant. This had the effect of producing divergent regression lines.     

Family formation and dissolution in an Aegean island

This paper explores family formation and dissolution in the Aegean island of Paros over the period 1894-1998. The examined issues are: trends in age at marriage, age gap between spouses, age differentials among different occupational groups, age at widowhood, remarriage, illegitimacy and bridal pregnancy. The main findings confirmed that certain characteristics of the 'Mediterranean' marriage pattern, such as low age at marriage for females, high for males and large age gap between spouses, were present in the study population up until the 1980s. The feature of the family cycle that has changed most dramatically over the examined period is age at widowhood, which has increased spectacularly owing to the impressive progress in adult, and especially maternal, mortality that took place in Greece in the post-war years.     

Spousal agreement on preferred waiting time to next birth in sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates how various social, demographic and economic factors affect spousal agreement on preferred waiting time to next birth. Data for matched cohabiting couples from ten Demographic and Health Surveys in sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe), conducted between 2003 and 2006, were analysed to compare reported waiting time to next birth by the husband and the wife. Couples where the reported waiting time to next birth was the same for both partners (difference is 0 months) were defined as having agreement on waiting time to next birth. In sub-Saharan Africa, spousal agreement on waiting time to next birth was found to be associated with wanting the next child sooner. When the spouses disagree on waiting time to next birth, the wives want to wait longer than their husbands in most cases. Additionally, the study found that demographic factors are the primary determinants of spousal agreement on waiting time to next birth, not socioeconomic factors. The strongest predictors of spousal agreement on waiting time to next birth were number of living children, difference between the number of ideal and living children and wife's age. Couples with fewer children, a younger wife and those with a difference of five or more children between ideal and living number of children were more likely to agree on waiting time to next birth. Effects of socioeconomic factors, such as education and wealth status, on spousal agreement on waiting time to next birth were generally weak and inconsistent. The findings highlight some of the challenges in developing programmes to promote spousal communication and birth spacing and underscore the need for programmes to be gender-sensitive.     

Pregnancy established in an infertile patient after transfer of a donated embryo fertilised in vitro.

In vitro fertilisation after stimulation of the ovulatory cycle has led to successful pregnancy. If more oocytes are recovered than are needed they may be left unfertilised, preserved, or donated to a recipient couple from whom oocytes cannot be obtained. A case of human pregnancy initiated by transfer of a donated embryo fertilised in vitro is reported. The donor was a 42 year old woman with primary infertility from whom six follicles were aspirated after stimulation of the ovulatory cycle. The recipient was a 38 year old infertile woman who had undergone several unsuccessful attempts for artificial insemination from a donor. Five oocytes were recovered from the donor''s six follicles, four of which were inseminated with spermatozoa of the donor''s husband and the fifth with a frozen sample of semen. Three of the four embryos fertilised by her husband were returned to the donor and the fifth was transferred to the recipient. No pregnancy was recorded in the donor, but pregnancy was confirmed in the recipient, though spontaneous abortion occurred after 10 weeks. This case will give useful information for further study of in vitro fertilisation, but also raises many ethical issues.     

The spread of HIV in Pakistan: bridging of the epidemic between populations

In the last two decades, 'concentrated epidemics' of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have established in several high risk groups in Pakistan, including Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) and among men who have sex with men (MSM). To explore the transmission patterns of HIV infection in these major high-risk groups of Pakistan, 76 HIV samples were analyzed from MSM, their female spouses and children, along with 26 samples from a previously studied cohort of IDUs. Phylogenetic analysis of HIV gag gene sequences obtained from these samples indicated a substantial degree of intermixing between the IDU and MSM populations, suggesting a bridging of HIV infection from IDUs, via MSM, to the MSM spouses and children. HIV epidemic in Pakistan is now spreading to the female spouses and offspring of bisexual MSM. HIV control and awareness programs must be refocused to include IDUs, MSM, as well as bisexual MSM, and their spouses and children.     

Relationship between birth order of spouses with different degrees of consanguineous relationship

The relationship between birth order of spouses with different degrees of consanguinity is examined in a sample of 1826 couples belonging to the endogamous Vadde Fisherfolk of Kolleru Lake, Andhra Pradesh, India. We attempt to explain the wide variation in the frequency of different kinds of consanguineous marriages through the age-sex structure of the population in general and especially of the related families. This structure may also be manifested in the association between the birth orders of spouses. A highly significant and large correlation between the birth orders of spouses in uncle-niece marriages and a gradual decrease in the correlation with increase in remoteness of the relationship between the spouses were observed. Given the distribution of age differences between the spouses and assuming a standard age-sex structure, it seems possible to estimate the optimum frequency with which at least close consanguineous marriages occur in any particular population.     

Assessment of Anxiety Level and Mental Health Status in Spouses and Children of Day-Working and Shift-Working Men

The present study was aimed at assessing the effects of the unusual schedules of shift-working men on anxiety and mental health of their spouses and children. The anxiety and mental health of 396 subjects that include 133 spouses and 263 children of day-working and shift-working men were monitored by employing specific inventory. Anxiety scales (trait, state and free-floating) and mental health inventory were administrated to each subject. Results indicate that the average levels of free-floating anxiety for the spouses and children of shift-working men were found to be significantly higher in comparison with that of their counterparts sampled in the family of day workers. This was also true when data were segregated with respect of gender and compared. Except in female children of shift workers all other groups of children had statistically significantly higher level of state anxiety as compared with that of their respective mothers. The results of this study further reveal that the spouses of shift-working men exhibited lower mental health rating as compared with the spouses of day-working men. Furthermore, a significant negative relationship was noticed between anxiety and mental health in all cases excepting in spouses of shift-working men for state anxiety. Although the findings of the present study could be attributed to the irregular routine of shift workers, it appears mandatory to carryout further intensive studies to draw convincing conclusions.     

Atherogenic lipoprotein profile in families with and without history of early myocardial infarction

In this study we compared several parameters characterizing differences in the lipoprotein profile between members of families with a positive or negative family history of coronary artery disease (CAD). In addition to regular parameters such as the body mass index (BMI), total plasma cholesterol (TC), low density (LDL-C) and high density (HDL-C) cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) we estimated the fractional esterification rate of cholesterol in apoB lipoprotein-depleted plasma (FER(HDL)) which reflects HDL and LDL particle size distribution. A prevalence of smaller particles for the atherogenic profile of plasma lipoproteins is typical. Log (TG/HDL-C) as a newly established atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) was calculated and correlated with other parameters. The cohort in the study consisted of 29 young (< 54 years old) male survivors of myocardial infarction (MI), their spouses and at least one offspring (MI group; n=116). The control group consisted of 29 apparently healthy men with no family history of premature CAD in three generations, their spouses and at least one offspring (control group; n=124). MI families had significantly higher BMI than the controls, with the exception of spouses. Plasma TC did not significantly differ between MI and the controls. MI spouses had significantly higher TG. Higher LDL-C had MI survivors only, while lower HDL-C had both MI survivors and their spouses compared to the controls. FER(HDL) was significantly higher in all the MI subgroups (probands 25.85+/-1.22, spouses 21.55+/-2.05, their daughters 16.93+/-1.18 and sons 19.05+/-1.33 %/h) compared to their respective controls (men 20.80+/-1.52, spouses 14.70+/-0.98, daughters 13.23+/-0.74, sons 15.7+/-0.76 %/h, p<0.01 to p<0.05). Log(TG/HDL-C) ranged from negative values in control subjects to positive values in MI probands. High correlation between FER(HDL) and Log (TG/HDL-C) (r=0.80, p<0.0001) confirmed close interactions among TG, HDL-C and cholesterol esterification rate. The finding of significantly higher values of FER(HDL) and Log (TG/HDL-C) indicate higher incidence of atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype in members of MI families. The possibility that, in addition to genetic factors, a shared environment likely contributes to the familial aggregation of CAD risk factors is supported by a significant correlation of the FER(HDL) values within spousal pairs (control pairs: r=0.51 p<0.01, MI pairs: r=0.41 p<0.05).     

Assessment of Anxiety Level and Mental Health Status in Spouses and Children of Day-Working and Shift-Working Men

The present study was aimed at assessing the effects of the unusual schedules of shift-working men on anxiety and mental health of their spouses and children. The anxiety and mental health of 396 subjects that include 133 spouses and 263 children of day-working and shift-working men were monitored by employing specific inventory. Anxiety scales (trait, state and free-floating) and mental health inventory were administrated to each subject. Results indicate that the average levels of free-floating anxiety for the spouses and children of shift-working men were found to be significantly higher in comparison with that of their counterparts sampled in the family of day workers. This was also true when data were segregated with respect of gender and compared. Except in female children of shift workers all other groups of children had statistically significantly higher level of state anxiety as compared with that of their respective mothers. The results of this study further reveal that the spouses of shift-working men exhibited lower mental health rating as compared with the spouses of day-working men. Furthermore, a significant negative relationship was noticed between anxiety and mental health in all cases excepting in spouses of shift-working men for state anxiety. Although the findings of the present study could be attributed to the irregular routine of shift workers, it appears mandatory to carryout further intensive studies to draw convincing conclusions.     

The use of twins in the analysis of assortative mating

The simulations illustrated show that a plausible model for mate selection can generate data on the similarity of twins and their spouses which are remarkably consistent with a transitive model for the effects of mate selection. This is, biological considerations impose constraints upon the relative values of correlations which are not foreseen, for example, by the some advocates of conventional path models although they might be predicted by common sense. In particular, the correlation between the spouses of twins is expected to be non-zero under a model of phenotypic assortment and turns out to be approximately equal to the product of the twin correlation and the square of the marital correlation. The relative magnitudes of the correlations derived from an empirical study of such relationships should enable models of phenotypic assortment to be tested more rigorously. Including both identical and non-identical twins in the sample studied should permit the inherited and cultural components of the mating system to be identified with more conviction. In the event of one sex playing a more significant role in mate selection for particular traits, such studies should reveal diagnostic patterns of familial correlations as long as male and female twins and their spouses are analysed separately. If the analysis is restricted to phenotypic correlations of the parents, the qualitative findings do not appear to be greatly affected by selection due to assortative mating although a reduction in variance is to be expected if a large proportion of individuals is unable to mate. In such cases twins will also be significantly concordant for mating. The consequences of such varied regimes of assortation for the population structure and the relationship between traits in subsequent generations remain the object of future inquiry.     

The role of migration processes in the formation of marriage structure of Moscow population. II. Assortative mating for the age, birthplace and nationality

Positive assortative mating for age at marriage, birthplace and nationality has been revealed by means of sample analysis of couples married in Moscow in 1955 and 1980. The correlation coefficient between mates for age at marriage was r = 0.81 in 1955 and r = 0.88 in 1980; the age difference between spouses had a mean of 1.55 and 2.21 years, respectively. The determinative role of migration in forming Moscow population marriage structure accounts for the fact that the greater part of marriages registered in the capital are between migrants from various regions of the USSR or between the Moscow-born and the migrants. The proportion of marriages between individuals born in Moscow has increased over 25 years from 10 to 38%, these values being significantly higher than those expected under random mating between the migrants and the Moscow-born. The contingency coefficient measuring the association between the birthplaces of husband and wife was K = 0.16 in 1955 and K = 0.11 in 1980, the preferential marriage between mates born in the same region being still significant even when marriages are registered in Moscow. The highest degrees of assortative mating were observed for nationality character: K = 0.37 in 1955 and K = 0.28 in 1980. The decrease in these values over the past 25 years has resulted in a slight growth of the proportion of international marriages (from 14.75 to 16.53%) which has not yet reached the level expected under panmixia (about 21%).     

Hypothetical rankings of prospective husbands for female kin in lowland Nicaragua: consensus analysis indicates high agreement and associations with wealth and hunting skill

In preindustrial societies, kin may exert influence on the mating choices of women, but there have been few systematic studies of the preferred characteristics of husbands for female kin. In an indigenous Mayangna and Miskito community, photographs of 29 male household heads were presented to informants, who ranked the men on three characteristics: desirability as a spouse, hunting ability and wealth. For the desirability rankings, informants were asked to consider the advice that they would give to young female relatives and rank the men based on the qualities that such women should seek in a husband. Consensus analysis indicates that there is high agreement among informants on all three sets of rankings. There is no evidence that the age and sex of informants are associated with variation in evaluations of the desirability of men, which suggests that the evaluations by reproductively active women do not significantly differ from rankings by other informants. Multivariate analysis indicates that perceptions of both a man's wealth and his hunting ability are positively associated with his desirability as a prospective husband for female kin. By contrast, a strong kin-based social network, as measured by the presence of consanguineal kin in the community, seems unimportant to a man's desirability as a husband. Although it remains unclear to what extent hunting ability is a signal of phenotypic quality, these results support predictions that individuals will encourage female kin to marry men who are good resource providers. Finally, compared to a conventional reliability analysis, consensus analysis is demonstrated as a superior method for assessing both unidimensionality and subgroup variation in informant rankings.     

Evidence of phenotypic and social assortative mating for anthropometric and physiological traits in couples from the Basque country (Spain)

This study examined 28 anthropometrical and physiological traits in 107 married couples living in the province of Biscay (Basque Country, Spain). The aim was to verify the existence of a phenotypic and/or social preference when choosing a mate. For this, correlations between pairs of spouses were estimated by maximum likelihood, and a model of familial transmission (path analysis) was applied in order to test if social homogamy between mates existed. The results provide significant evidence of phenotypic as well as social homogamy in several of the studied traits. Even if an assortment existed when choosing a mate for bony traits such as height, the effect of cohabitation cannot be discounted as the main causal factor for the high phenotypic resemblance observed between spouses for body composition traits. In addition, with the social homogeneity of the studied sample, significant evidence of the existence of social homogamy between mates was only found for 20% of the studied variables.     

Parental age difference, educationally assortative mating and offspring count: evidence from a contemporary population in Taiwan

Using contemporary population data from Taiwan, we examine the relationships between parental age difference, educationally assortative mating, income and offspring count. Controlling for women's reproductive value (measured by age at first birth), we find that an older husband is associated with fewer offspring, whereas a husband with similar or higher education is associated with more offspring. Concerning resources, we find that women's income is negatively associated with fertility and husband's income is positively associated with fertility among highly educated women. These results are consistent with the view that women compensate for trade-offs between education, income generation and childbearing by seeking mates with a higher status.     

Pilot study: Population differences in the frequency of spina bifida occulta

Abstract

Iran has the second highest age differential between husband and wife out of 55 countries studied (Dixon, 1971) and one almost twice as large as that for all countries combined. This article provides a set of basic reliable data on husband‐wife age differentials in Shiraz, Iran, for marriages in 1956, 1966, 1973, and 1974, and for divorces in 1956, 1966, and 1973. The data provide support for the hypotheses: (1) the larger the difference between the ages of bride and groom, the higher the chance for family dissolution; and (2) the younger the brides, the greater the age differences between them and their grooms.