AUSTRALIA: Single Women Stay Healthy in Old Age

Sydney (Sydney Morning Herald), January 10, 2005: A new study conducted by The Queensland University suggests that divorced, widowed and single women in older age appear to be healthier than their married counterparts. According to Sydney Morning Herald, the study titled Marriage dissolution and health amongst the elderly: the role of social and economic resources - was based on a sample of 2300 Australians and conducted by lead researcher Belinda Hewitt. Divorced, widowed and never-married elderly women reported significantly better general health than married women, challenging long-held beliefs that married people had better overall physical and mental health than non-married. However, women who were separated but not divorced reported poorer health than all other groups of females, giving rise to concerns that the needs of a small but growing group of elderly women are being overlooked. The research showed Australia has more divorced and separated elderly people than ever before. Between 1991 and 2001 the numbers of separated or divorced Australians over 60 rose from 165,000 to more than 300,000, and their proportion of the population rose from 6.3 per cent to 9.6 per cent. In 2003 the number of divorced women over 60 exceeded the number of widows for the first time. The number of divorced men over 60 nearly doubled over the same period. While some of the over-60 divorcees may remarry, most will remain single. "They are not a bunch of frail and lonely people who are going to be a burden. Maybe being married ties you more to the house and your partner. We know that single aged people are much more likely than the married to end up in aged-care facilities. It is possible that the healthy non-married elderly are over-represented in our sample," Hewitt concludes.