Living Arrangements and Health in Mid-Life: Insights from Sequence Analysis

Maria Sironi , University of Padova
Sara Tafuro, University of Padova
Marco Tosi, University of Padua

A substantial body of research has examined the relationship between living arrangements and long-term health outcomes. However, few studies have simultaneously considered a wide range of living arrangements, limiting comparative insights. Moreover, while most existing work focuses on young or older adults, considerably less attention has been paid to individuals in mid-life. Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (Understanding Society), we apply sequence analysis to examine how trajectories of living arrangements over a ten-year period relate to later physical and mental health outcomes. Our sample includes 5,523 individuals aged 40 to 55 (at the end of the observation period) whose annual living arrangements are classified into six categories. Through optimal matching, we identify seven clusters representing distinct living arrangement patterns and investigate their association with health outcomes, controlling for early life, demographic, and socio-economic variables. The largest cluster identified in the analysis comprises individuals living stably with a partner and children—unsurprisingly, as the nuclear family remains the socially normative living arrangement for this age group. This group serves as the reference category in the regression analyses, allowing us to assess whether deviations from this norm are associated with comparatively better or worse health outcomes. Preliminary regression results indicate that two clusters exhibit poorer physical and mental health relative to the baseline trajectory, particularly among men: individuals who lived mostly alone and those who lived with children but without a partner. Among women, all clusters are associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes compared to the baseline.

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 Presented in Session 18. Health and Wellbeing across the Life Course