Cohabitation and unmet care needs in later life.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

More older Americans are cohabiting with a partner. However, it is unclear whether cohabitation serves as an alternative to marriage for meeting daily needs in later life. This study examines whether receipt of partner assistance and experience of unmet care needs differ by union status and gender.

Methods

Data are from the 2012, 2016, and 2023 National Health and Aging Trends Study, including 4,283 community-dwelling older adults (aged 66+; 4,070 married, 213 cohabiting) who coreside with an opposite-sex partner and are in need of care. Outcomes include receipt of health-related assistance "care," receipt of non-health-related assistance "help," overall assistance hours, and unmet care needs. We estimate logistic and linear regression models by union status and a

SUBMITTER: Patterson SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC13553082 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature