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We explore women's psychological well-being in late midlife in relation to childlessness and timing of entry into motherhood. Using two U.S. surveys, Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (1992) and National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) (Sweet, Bumpass, & Call, 1988), we assess the well-being of childless women in their 50s compared to mothers with early, delayed, or normatively timed first births. We focus on the cohorts born between 1928 and 1941, who experienced strong normative pressures during the baby boom with regard to marriage and child-bearing. We find few differences among childless women but lower well-being among early mothers, related to singlehood and poorer socioeconomic status. Unmarried mothers are significantly disadvantaged regardless of maternal timing, controlling for socioeconomic status. Current maternal demands are independently related to well-being and help to explain observed differences in family satisfaction. Overall, childlessness and off-time child-bearing are related to midlife well-being through their link with more proximate factors, particularly current marital status, health, and socioeconomic status. The institution of marriage had a power and inevitability in the fifties that it has never had since. You simply didn't ask yourself "if" you wanted marriage and children; the only relevant questions were when and how many? And the answers were, as soon as possible and as many as possible" (Harvey, 1993, p. 69). We explore women's psychological well-being in late midlife in relation to childlessness and timing of entry into motherhood. (Harvey, 1993, p. 69). (Contains 5 tables.)

We explore women's psychological well-being in late midlife in relation to childlessness and timing of entry into motherhood. Using two U.S. surveys, Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (1992) and National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) (Sweet, Bumpass, & Call, 1988), we assess the well-being of childless women in their 50s compared to mothers with early, delayed, or normatively timed first births. We focus on the cohorts born between 1928 and 1941, who experienced strong normative pressures during the baby boom with regard to marriage and child-bearing. We find few differences among childless women but lower well-being among early mothers, related to singlehood and poorer socioeconomic status. Unmarried mothers are significantly disadvantaged regardless of maternal timing, controlling for socioeconomic status. Current maternal demands are independently related to well-being and help to explain observed differences in family satisfaction. Overall, childlessness and off-time child-bearing are related to midlife well-being through their link with more proximate factors, particularly current marital status, health, and socioeconomic status.

This article investigates the independent additive and the interactive effects of being an informal caregiver of an elderly parent and three role commitments (being married, having a child or grandchild coreside, and being employed) on depressive symptomatology. For the respondents with a living mother, being a caregiver to their mother was not associated with the level of depressive symptoms. For the respondents with a living father, being a caregiver to their father was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Respondents who were caregivers to their father reported lower depressive symptom scores due to being married and due to being employed. Being married and being employed may provide an alternative source of integration and thus buffer the detrimental effects that caregiving for a father has on depressive symptomatology. The findings are discussed in the context of role strain and role enhancement perspectives. Keywords: caregiving; depression; role commitments

Objectives. This study examines the individual, spousal, and household characteristics associated with the retirement expectations of husbands and wives. Methods. Using data from the 1992 Health and Retirement Study, subjective probabilities of working full-time after reaching age 62 and age 65 are used to measure retirement expectations. The retirement expectations of husbands and wives are modeled simultaneously using a joint-generalized least-squares approach. Results. Within a marriage, retirement expectations are shaped by individual, spousal, and household characteristics. We observe some gender differences in cross-spousal influence with wives' retirement expectations being more influenced by husbands' resources and constraints than vice versa. Nonetheless, individual and household factors associated with retirement expectations are widely shared by husbands and wives. Discussion. Husbands and wives both respond to individual and joint constraints and opportunities when planning for retirement. Findings support that there is considerable overlap in retirement planning of husbands and wives during early parts of the retirement decision-making process. However, inequity in cross-spousal influences is a defining characteristic of retirement decision making. Implications for both policy makers and practitioners are briefly discussed.

This study examines the relationships between health-related quality of life and activity engagement among residents in two continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). Prior research indicates that involvement in activity is an important correlate of healthy aging among other community-dwelling elders, and this finding is expected to hold in CCRCs. Time spent engaged in discretionary activities, specifically active, passive, and outside retirement community activities are expected to be associated with better health-related quality of life across multiple dimensions. Data were collected from 167 independent living and assisted living residents in two CCRCs in a large Midwestern metropolitan area. Activity engagement was measured via a self-report questionnaire. Health-related quality of life was measured using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), which generates eight health subscales (e.g., physical functioning, social functioning, pain). Based on ordinary least squares regression models, the results indicate that discretionary activities, in particular more active types of activity, are positively associated with higher health-related quality of life. These findings have implications for health and activity promotion in CCRCs.

Greater numbers of persons will enter retirement outside of marriage or with a checkered marital history. Given the traditional health benefits of marriage, these changes in the population's marital life course may foretell changing demands for eldercare in addition to adverse health consequences. Here, the authors provide new evidence on the specific aspects of health associated with marriage for a nationally representative survey of retirement age adults. An important aspect of the authors' analysis is the assessment of whether the benefits of marriage hold equally for women and men, major race/ethnic groups, and persons with different marital histories. Data from the Health and Retirement Survey are used to evaluate how marriage is associated with major chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and disability. Findings document that marriage benefits health across a broad spectrum of fatal and nonfatal chronic disease conditions, functioning problems, and disabilities. Moreover, benefits of marriage are widely shared across demographic groups.

Objectives: In this prospective study of smoking cessation among married individuals in midlife we examine correspondence in the change of each partner's smoking status with that of the other, independent of established psychosocial correlates of smoking cessation. Methods: Using longitudinal data from the first two waves of the Health and Retirement Study, 1992-1994, hierarchical logistic regression models were estimated for married male and female smokers separately. Results: Findings support our hypothesis of correspondence in the smoking cessation of married male and female smokers net of other sociodemographic, health, and health behavior characteristics. Discussion: These findings suggest that initiation and maintenance of this positive lifestyle change may be more easily achieved when both marital partners are given information and support to quit smoking at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]