Spousal Concordance in Exceptional Longevity: The Interplay Between Social Origin, Marriage and Survival

Spouses of centenarians have a survival advantage compared to their birth cohort. However, less is understood about the pathways by which spousal similarity in exceptional survival exactly operates. This study investigates whether positive homogamy and/or shared environment are related to the resemblance among spouses and how it can explain why spouses of centenarians are more likely to achieve a very long life span. Our sample consists of 850 validated French-Canadian centenarians who died between 1985-2005, and their spouses. Using early-life family variables gathered from the 1901 and 1911 censuses and measuring the social level of the family, we investigate through homogamy models and logit models if there is a tendency to partner with individuals of the same social origin. Consideration will mainly be given to the Assortative Mating hypothesis, which argues that spousal concordance in health and longevity is largely a result of a selective process through which individuals choose partners based on a similar social origin and shared childhood characteristics, and to the Shared Resources Hypothesis. Results could shed light on the extent to which spousal concordance in longevity is channelled through social origin in early life and could put forward the impact of lifecourse events in achieving old-age mortality.