Cohabitation, Marriage, and Self-Perceived Health in Canada

On average, married people are healthier than unmarried people. With the rapid growth of unmarried cohabitation, scholars have wondered whether health differences between married individuals and unmarried cohabitants diminished. Using pooled data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2000–2001, 2005, 2010, and 2017–2018), I investigated associations between marital status and self-perceived health in the understudied Canadian context, which is marked by regional differences in the histories and meanings of unmarried cohabitation. Cohabitation has a longer history in Québec, where it is considered as an alternative to marriage, whereas in the rest of Canada it is typically seen as a childless prelude that could lead to marriage. Findings show that, in Québec, individuals living common-law (a particular type of unmarried cohabitation) were just as likely as married individuals to report very good or excellent health. In the rest of Canada, the probability of reporting very good or excellent health was consistently lower for individuals living common-law compared to married individuals. Future research should investigate why health differences between married individuals and those living common-law continue to be observed outside of Québec, despite the increasing practice and cultural acceptance of this type of union across the country.