OBJECTIVES

This article examines the relationship between lifetime marital history and mortality after age 50.

METHOD

Data are drawn from the Health and Retirement Study birth cohort of 1931 to 1941. The analysis utilizes three measures of marital history: number of marriages, proportion time married, and age at first marriage.

RESULTS

Three or more marriages and a lower proportion of adult life spent married are each associated with a higher hazard of dying after age 50 for both men and women even after controlling for current marital status and socioeconomic status. Smoking behavior accounts for part of the relationship of marital history and status with mortality.

DISCUSSION

Research on marital status and health should consider marital history as well as current status. Two topics are particularly important: examining the relationship in different cohorts and disentangling the potentially causal role of health behaviors such as smoking.