@article {12544, title = {The Cost of Widowhood: A Matching Study of Process and Event}, journal = {SocArXiv Papers}, year = {Forthcoming}, abstract = {Widowhood is a common life transition entailing far-reaching consequences. We examine the consequences of widowhood in a novel way by assessing the consequences of bereavement for meaningful comparison groups allowing us to evaluate the impact of bereavement before and after the event. The analysis of the cost of widowhood for mental health and economic wellbeing focuses on two scenarios: unexpected and expected widowhood. The first scenario models a two-period process in which effects of widowhood occur only after the event. The second models a three-period process in which effects of widowhood also occur before spousal loss. US Health and Retirement Study data and a combination of random-coefficient modelling, propensity score matching, and regressions are used to estimate the consequences of widowhood from ten years before to six years after spousal loss. Results on mental health show a slow but full recovery for unexpected widowhood, but larger and lasting declines for expected widowhood. Findings on economic wellbeing show sizable losses for expected widowhood due to the economic cost of the pre-widowhood period. In sum, the impact of widowhood is smaller for unexpected compared to expected events. Our approach advances knowledge about spousal loss, but also research on life events more generally.}, keywords = {depression, economic wellbeing, life course, Widowhood}, doi = {10.31235/osf.io/t8jef}, author = {Van Winkle, Zachary and Thomas Leopold} } @article {8035, title = {The transition to parent care: Costs, commitments, and caregiver selection among children}, journal = {Journal of Marriage and Family}, volume = {76}, year = {2014}, note = {Export Date: 21 April 2014 Source: Scopus}, pages = {300-318}, publisher = {76}, abstract = {This research traced the process of caregiver selection among adult children longitudinally, investigating how transitions to parent care were influenced by previous constellations of caregiving costs and commitments within sibling groups. The authors used data from 6 waves (1998-2008) of the Health and Retirement Study, selecting a sample of families (N=641 parents comprising N=2,452 parent-child dyads) in which they observed at least 1 adult child becoming a caregiver to a previously self-sufficient parent. Among cost-related factors, this transition was predicted primarily by between-sibling differences in previous geographical distances to the parent and, to a lesser extent, competing demands in work and family spheres. The indicators for caregiving commitments showed the importance of reciprocity, path dependency, and parental expectations as motivational forces affecting the process of caregiver selection among adult children. Gender effects revealed the primacy of the mother-daughter tie, as daughters were overrepresented only in transitions to mother care. National Council on Family Relations, 2014.}, keywords = {Adult children, Health Conditions and Status, Healthcare, Other}, url = {http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84895111373andpartnerID=40andmd5=b5d6e1e1085bb9c47de88a8bfa7d1720}, author = {Thomas Leopold and Marcel Raab and Henriette Engelhardt} }