Do disability pension awards have a causal impact on recipients’ marital stability? Evidence from the Danish Social Security Programme

Publication date: Available online 9 August 2018Source: AlterAuthor(s): Siddhartha Baviskar, Kirstine Bengtsson, Steen BengtssonAbstractWhat is the effect of a disability pension (DP) on the recipients’ marital stability if we keep the recipients’ health constant? Previous research shows that marital stability may be challenged when one partner acquires a disability. However, the effects of permanent benefits such as DP on recipients’ marital stability have not yet been examined. We contribute to the literature by investigating this question using data from Denmark and estimating the causal effect of DP using instrumental variable regression and the municipal award rate for DPs as the instrument. We find that a DP considerably lowers the risk of divorce, markedly in the short run, but also in the longer run. Our findings suggest overall that a DP preserves disabled persons’ marriage, despite the onset of disability.RésuméQuel est l’effet de l’obtention d’une pension d’invalidité (PI) sur la stabilité du mariage de ses bénéficiaires, si la santé de ses bénéficiaires reste constante? Des études antérieures montrent que la stabilité du mariage est remise en question lorsqu’un partenaire acquiert un handicap. Cependant, les effets des prestations permanentes telles que la PI sur cette stabilité n’ont pas encore été examinés. Nous contribuons à la littérature en étudiant cette question à partir de données danoises et en estimant l’effet c...
Source: ALTER - European Journal of Disability Research - Category: Disability Source Type: research