Table 1.
Weighted Means (standard deviations) or Percentages of Baseline (predivorce) Characteristics for Respondents Who Eventually Get Gray Divorce by Gender
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions of parent–adult child relationships | ||
| Frequent contact | 63.28 | 78.45*** |
| Downward financial transfer | 20.98 | 21.71 |
| Parental characteristics | ||
| Marital duration | 17.16 (13.22) | 17.11 (13.29) |
| Higher-order marriage | 65.05 | 65.61 |
| Age | 59.16 (7.37) | 56.20 (6.41) |
| Race–ethnicity | ||
| White | 76.84 | 78.75 |
| Black | 13.89 | 12.34 |
| Hispanic | 9.27 | 8.91 |
| Educational attainment | ||
| High school or lower | 47.89 | 49.63 |
| Some college | 27.28 | 28.42 |
| College or higher | 24.83 | 21.95 |
| Median household income (in 1998 dollars) | $49,360.00 | $50,747.90 |
| Employment status | 58.82 | 54.14 |
| Homeownership | 71.77 | 74.66 |
| Self-reported health | 3.18 (1.20) | 3.13 (1.22) |
| Nonadult children (<age 25) | 42.21 | 37.37 |
| Adult child characteristics | ||
| Age | 32.15 (7.12) | 32.06 (7.31) |
| Son | 52.50 | 50.32 |
| Shared biological child | 42.44 | 44.11 |
| Married or cohabiting | 55.21 | 50.57 |
| Educational attainment (years) | 13.39 (2.31) | 13.34 (2.36) |
| Student status | 9.69 | 10.11 |
| Employment status | 78.98 | 81.14 |
| Homeownership | 34.10 | 34.38 |
| Parental status | 49.07 | 50.65 |
| Unweighted number of respondents | 320 | 334 |
| Unweighted number of children | 1,097 | 1,032 |
Note: Column totals may exceed 100% because of rounding. No means or percentages were significant at the p < .05 or p < .01 level.
Source: Health and Retirement Study, 1998–2014.
***p < .001.