The Changing Relationship Between Partnership Status and Loneliness: Effects Related to Aging and Historical Time

Objectives: Partnership status is a central predictor of loneliness. The strength of this predictive relationship, however, may decrease in the course of aging and over historical time. Moreover, there may be aging-related and historical changes in the satisfaction with partnership and singlehood. Method: Longitudinal data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) assessed in 2008 and 2014 (N = 6,188, age range: 40-85 years) was analyzed with multigroup structural equation models to disentangle aging-related and historical changes in the relationship of partnership status and loneliness and in the average level of satisfaction with partnership and singlehood. Results: With advancing age, partnership status became less predictive of loneliness and the satisfaction with being single increased. Among later-born cohorts, the association between partnership status and loneliness was less strong than among earlier-born cohorts. Later-born single people were more satisfied with being single than their earlier-born counterparts. There was no indication for an aging-related or historical decrease in partnership satisfaction. Discussion: The relevance of partnership status as a predictor of social well-being is neither universal nor stable but appears to change in the course of aging and across historical time.