Do disability pension awards have a causal impact on recipients’ marital stability? Evidence from the Danish Social Security Programme

What is the effect of a disability pension (DP) on the recipients’ marital stability if we keep the recipients’ health constant? Previous research shows that marital stability may be challenged when one partner acquires a disability. However, the effects of permanent benefits such as DP on recipients’ marital stability have not yet been examined. We contribute to the literature by investigating this question using data from Denmark and estimating the causal effect of DP using instrumental variable regression and the municipal award rate for DPs as the instrument. We find that a DP considerably lowers the risk of divorce, markedly in the short run, but also in the longer run. Our findings suggest overall that a DP preserves disabled persons’ marriage, despite the onset of disability.