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According to the researchers, one reason for this feeling of health and happiness is that the women are relieved to be free of having to provide 24-hour care for the elderly husbands more likely to be in poorer health than they are.
"The research highlights differences within Europe. Older people in Scandinavia were happier than in other regions of Europe. In Scandinavia there are generous welfare systems.
"In England and Wales older women living alone reported better self-rated health than married women of the same age, even though the married had lower death rates over the next three years.
"One reason might be that some of the married older women may have caring responsibilities for their spouses, which might affect their self-rated health," lead researcher Prof Emily Grundy of the Centre for Population Studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said.
Prof Grundy and her colleagues came to the conclusion after analysing data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study on England and Wales, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing on England, and the European Social Survey with figures from 19 European Countries.
The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Britain's largest body funding social research, also found that men living with a relative or friend were less likely to be happy or satisfied with life than those living with a wife. Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/ET_Cetera/Single_women_over_60_happier_than_single_men/articleshow/2542597.cms
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