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%T Home Alone: Widows' Well-Being and Time %A Adena, Maja %A Hamermesh, Daniel %A Myck, Michał %A Oczkowska, Monika %J Journal of Happiness Studies %P 813-838 %V 24 %D 2023 %K Time use; Widowhood %@ 1573-7780 %~ WZB %> https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-95234-7 %X Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and France (2009-10), we examine differences between widowed and partnered older women in well-being and its development in widowhood. Most importantly, our analysis accounts for time use, an aspect which has not been studied previously. We trace the evolution of well-being of women who become widowed by comparing them with their matched non-widowed 'statistical twins' and examine the role of an exceptionally broad set of potential moderators of widowhood's impact on well-being. We confirm a dramatic decrease in mental health and life satisfaction after the loss of partner, followed by a slow partial recovery over a 5-year period. An extensive set of controls recorded prior to widowhood, including detailed family ties and social networks, provides little help in explaining the deterioration in well-being. Unique data from time-diaries kept by older women in several European countries and the U.S. tell us why: the key factor behind widows' reduced well-being is increased time spent alone. %C NLD %G en %9 Zeitschriftenartikel %W GESIS - http://www.gesis.org %~ SSOAR - http://www.ssoar.info