50+ couples’ (un)happiness is interrelated

Life satisfaction among spouses aged over 50 is strongly interrelated, according to a longitudinal study by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. The extensive European-wide study of nearly 25,000 couples also showed that factors related to health and socioeconomic status did not alter the association of life satisfaction between spouses.

“It is well known that being in a relationship generally increases well-being and life satisfaction, as do other well-functioning social relationships. In many ways, we are dependent on the people around us, and their experiences and challenges are also reflected in ourselves,” says Doctoral Researcher Terhi Auvinen from the University of Eastern Finland.

The study is based on data from the comprehensive European Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement (SHARE). For 20 years, SHARE has been collecting data on the health, finances and social relationships of people aged over 50. Data are collected every two years, currently from 28 European countries.

“SHARE enables us to seek solutions to questions and consequences related to population ageing. For decision-makers, it provides reliable and comparable information to support policymaking,” says Professor Ismo Linnosmaa of the University of Eastern Finland.

Responsibility for caregiving and health problems affect the association with life satisfaction

According to the study, the association of spouses’ life satisfaction becomes weaker in situations where only one of them bears responsibility for caregiving, or when health problems affect only one of them. According to the researchers, this may be explained by a shift in relationship dynamics from a reciprocal, intimate bond towards a more clinical caregiver–care recipient relationship, where emotional distance serves as a protective factor.

No gender differences were observed in the study. A woman’s life satisfaction explains their male partner’s life satisfaction just as much as a man’s life satisfaction explains their female partner’s. However, a woman’s life satisfaction was more strongly explained by their male partner’s life satisfaction in situations where the woman had a small social network.

“Women with a broad social network may be emotionally less dependent on their partner. However, the size of a man’s social network did not have an effect on how strongly their partner’s life satisfaction influenced their own,” Auvinen says.

The study included only heterosexual couples due to the small number of same-sex couples.

Country-specific differences in the association of spouses’ life satisfaction

There were country-specific differences in the strength of the association of spouses’ life satisfaction. The association was strongest in Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Slovakia, while it was weaker in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The countries with a weaker association tend to have higher overall levels of life satisfaction and a more individualistic culture.

“It would be interesting to explore these country-specific differences in more detail in future research.”

The findings reinforce the idea of well-being as a shared experience, which should be considered when designing interventions and care programmes for older adults.

“If one partner is not doing well, there is a high risk that the other’s life satisfaction will not improve either. Also, when assessing the cost-effectiveness of different measures, the benefits achieved may be underestimated if externalities are overlooked and partners are considered separately.”

The study constitutes part of the Economic and Social Sustainability Across Time and Space in an Ageing Society project, SustAgeable, funded by the Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.