Formal assistance among Dutch older adults: An examination of the genderednature of marital history

Drawing from life course theory, this article examines gender differences i n formal assistance among functionally dependent Dutch older persons within five distinct marital history groups - first-married, never-married, divor ced (not remarried), widowed (not remarried) and the remarried. Hierarchica l logistic regression analyses are performed for each of the marital histor y groups to test hypotheses regarding the interrelationships among gender a nd three sets of variables: 1) measures of age and functional health; 2) me asures of socio-economic status; and 3) measures of the social network. The results indicate gendered patterns of formal help use among the first-marr ied, never-married and widowed. Consistent with other studies, older first- married women are approximately three times more Likely to receive formal h elp than are men, a difference that remains robust after statistically cont rolling for other factors, including frailty of spouse. However, we also fi nd that never-married women are about one-third as likely to use formal hel p than are never-married men, which may be reflective of different preferen ces regarding formal service use. Among the widowed, we find that men with poorer functional health are more likely to receive formal help than are th eir female counterparts, suggesting contrasting patterns of help-seeking be haviour and social vulnerability. Additional differences are observed among the marital history groups in terms of the other independent variables, wh ich are also interpreted from a Life course perspective.