Marital Status
Marital status can affect many aspects of people’s lives including living arrangements,
income, wealth, and availability of caregivers. Marital status also affects access
to future retirement income from auxiliary spouse and survivor Social Security benefits,
survivor pension benefits, and couple income sharing.
Chart 2c. Marital status of the population aged 55–64, by sex, 1984, 1994, and 2004
Note: Married includes married, spouse present; married, spouse absent;
and separated.
Source:
U.S.Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
- The proportion of people aged 55–64 who were married declined
for men from 85 percent in 1984 to 79 percent in 2004 and for women from 70 percent
to 67 percent.
- The proportion of people aged 55–64 who were widowed declined
between 1984 and 2004 from 4 percent to 2 percent for men and from 17 percent to
10 percent for women.
- The proportion of divorced people aged 55–64 has doubled over
the past two decades from 6 percent in 1984 to 13 percent in 2004 for men, and from
9 percent to 18 percent for women.