Till death do us part or I get my pension? Wives' pension holding and marital dissolution in the United States

Wives' financial independence gained from their pension may increase the ri sk of marital dissolution, especially when wives are approaching retirement age (the older wives' independence hypothesis). Applying single and simult aneous equations probit models to data from the Panel Study of Income Dynam ics, we investigate the effect of wives' pension holding in 1984 on the ris k of subsequent marital dissolution. Results from the single equation model appear to support the older wives' independence hypothesis. However, resul ts from the simultaneous equations model suggest that interpreting the sing le equation results as a sign of older wives' economic independence may be misleading.