Anecdotes abound of widows and widowers who have died mere weeks or even days after the death of their long-time spouse. This phenomenon is known as the widowhood effect, but is it true? Do the mortality rates for the surviving spouse actually rise after the death of a spouse?
One U.S. Health and Retirement Study used data on 12,316 married subjects who were age 50 or over in 1998. The observation period ran from 1998 to 2008, during which time 2,912 deaths occurred in the sample group.
The researchers found there was indeed a widowhood effect, at least in the first three months after the death of a spouse. Male survivors were especially affected during this period as their mortality rates were 87 per cent higher than normal.
For example, if the normal mortality rate for a 12-month period is 5 per cent, then that rate rises to about 9 per cent in the case of male survivors (and about 7 per cent for female survivors).
As the chart shows, the widowhood effect is rather short-lived. It lasts up to six months in the case of a female survivor but only three months for male survivors. In the three- to six-month period after the death of a female spouse, male mortality rates actually drop by almost 30 per cent.
In other words, male survivors experience better mortality than normal if they can survive the first three months. Perhaps men grieve more intensely than women but learn to adjust more quickly?
After six months, the widowhood effect is negligible in the case of both sexes. While this was an American study, there is little reason to think the results would be very different in Canada.
Frederick Vettese is former Chief Actuary of Morneau Shepell and author of the PERC retirement calculator (perc-pro.ca)