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Gender, Marriage, and Health for Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples: The Future Keeps Arriving

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Gender and Couple Relationships

Part of the book series: National Symposium on Family Issues ((NSFI,volume 6))

Abstract

The married are in better health than the unmarried and this benefit is greater for men than women. Moreover, marital quality is associated with better health and tends to be more positive for men. The definition of marriage has changed over time though, raising new questions about gender, marriage, and health. In particular, the rise of same-sex marriage in the USA raises questions about whether the marriage benefit to health extends to same-sex couples, and whether there is a gender difference in the benefits of marriage for the health of same-sex couples. We consider current evidence for gendered patterns of marriage and health and how these patterns may differ for same-sex and different-sex couples. We present findings from a dyadic analysis of recently collected diary data on marital dynamics and health for same-sex and different-sex couples, and discuss how the rise of same-sex marriage can illuminate our understanding of gendered marital dynamics that influence health.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported, in part, by an Investigator in Health Policy Research Award to Debra Umberson from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; grant R01-AG17455 awarded to Debra Umberson in the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin by the National Institute on Aging; grant 5 R24 HD042849, Population Research Center, awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and grant F32 HD072616 to Rhiannon Kroeger by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, 78712, Austin, TX, USA

    Dr. Debra Umberson

  2. Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Rhiannon A. Kroeger

Authors
  1. Dr. Debra Umberson
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  2. Rhiannon A. Kroeger
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Correspondence to Debra Umberson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Susan M. McHale

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Valarie King

  3. Population Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jennifer Van Hook

  4. Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Alan Booth

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Umberson, D., Kroeger, R. (2016). Gender, Marriage, and Health for Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples: The Future Keeps Arriving. In: McHale, S., King, V., Van Hook, J., Booth, A. (eds) Gender and Couple Relationships. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21635-5_12

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