Understanding British heterosexual dual-earner couples’ retirement bargaining and the acceleration of phenotypic and functional ageing from a gender lens: dyadic evidence from the UK

Gendered divisions of paid and unpaid work shape retirement pathways in the UK, yet the biological consequences of couple-level retirement are not well understood. This study examines whether retirement configurations within heterosexual dual-earner couples are associated with phenotypic/functional ageing. Using couple-paired data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) nurse-visit waves, we construct a multi-system biomarker index spanning cardiometabolic and respiratory functions; higher scores indicate better physiological health. We estimate fixed-effects and two-way fixed-effects models and analyse the within-couple ageing difference (wife’s index minus husband’s). Robustness checks include single-biomarker models and alternative index constructions. Three results stand out. First, relative to couples in which both partners remain employed, retirement—by one partner or both—is associated with higher composite ageing scores. Second, the associations are stronger for women. Third, wife-only retirement is linked to a more favourable within-couple ageing difference, while joint retirement is associated with gains for both partners. These patterns persist, although attenuated, when controls and wave effects are included. Findings are consistent with relief from the “double burden” and negotiated time reallocation within households. Policy should enable flexible, co-ordinated retirement and strengthen support and pension credits for carers, alongside low-cost risk assessment during the retirement transition.