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| Marriage helps men cope with “health shocks” |
| Family |
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A new Canadian study suggests that when health issues arise that keep men from working, those who are married are better able to cope than single men, “because marriage protects them against such shocks,” the Vancouver Sun reported. By examining Statistics Canada data on Canadian households between 1999 and 2002, researchers at the University of British Columbia found that when a husband’s ill health affects his ability to earn a salary, his working wife steps in to fill the gap. But what surprised the researchers was how the wives responded. They did not do the expected and work longer hours to offset the loss of income, but instead they offered what UBC economics professor and lead researcher Dr. Giovanni Gallipoli called additional “caring services” at home. These included freeing their husbands from monitoring savings and investments and driving the children to various activities. “If a health shock affects the labour supply of the main earner, the second earner could go to the market and work more to bring more money to the house,” Gallipoli told the Sun. “But we don’t find that.” And far from forcing a couple to make do with less, the findings showed these “caring services” created their own financial reward. “In the long run,” Gallipoli said, “their human capital will appreciate and there is more money in the household, so it’s beneficial to both parties.” The study also found a connection between a man’s health and the importance he places on marriage. “Men who are at high risk of receiving idiosyncratic shocks,” the report noted, “value marriage early in life, when they are poor in assets and human capital, while all men value marriage at the late stages of their working life as they approach retirement and periods of high health risk.” The report is published online by the Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, a non-profit organization that carries out independent research in applied and theoretical economics. |
