Sickness Absence and the Effects of Having a Spouse - Can twins reveal the selection effect?

Abstract

Individuals that are married are often found to be healthier than singles. A crucial issue is to distinguish if this is due to a selection effect or due to a true protective effect of partnership. The purpose of this study is to distinguish these effects as explanations for a lower risk of having long-term sickness among individuals with a spouse. In this study an innovative method based on information on twins is developed to reveal the selection effect into partnership that provides a lower risk for long-term sickness absence. Important selections are found for both male and female samples.sickness absence; spouse; heterogeneity; selection; twins