Dear Blokes - Studies and Sources

Part I — The Quiz / The Why

Pew Research Center, Led by Baby Boomers, Divorce Rates Climb for America’s 50+ Population, 2017 — divorce rate for adults 50+ has roughly doubled since 1990; for adults 65+, roughly tripled
Sacks & Sacks Law, The Rise of Gray Divorce: What the Statistics Tell Us, 2023 — women initiate over 60% of grey divorces
Aged care assessment wait times in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Aged Care Data Snapshots, aihw.gov.au
Housing affordability as the number one financial concern for young adults globally. Deloitte Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey

Pew Research Center, Led by Baby Boomers, Divorce Rates Climb for America’s 50+ Population, 2017 — divorce rate doubled for 50+, tripled for 65+ since 1990
Bowling Green State University, National Center for Family & Marriage Research, Divorce Among Older Adults Has Nearly Tripled Since 1990, 2024
Sacks & Sacks Law, The Rise of Gray Divorce: What the Statistics Tell Us, 2023 — six in ten grey divorces initiated by women
Sbarra, D.A. & Nietert, P.J., Divorce and Death: Forty Years of the Charleston Heart Study — divorced men show greater morbidity and mortality, including cardiovascular and inflammatory health effects, than divorced women
Kposowa, A.J., Marital Status and Suicide in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 2000 — divorced men’s suicide risk over twice that of married men (the “eight times” figure in the text should be re-checked against this and more recent data before publishing)

Angela Mollard, The Sunday Telegraph, July 2025 — household labour hours, men 12.8 hours vs women 18.4 hours per week
Dr Leonora Risse, The Economic Record, 2025 — Australia’s unpaid labour valued at $688 billion annually, approximately one third of GDP
HILDA Survey, 2021 — mothers of dependent children spending 53 hours per week on unpaid housework and childcare vs male partners 30 hours
OECD, Gender Equality in a Changing World, 2025 — women do twice the unpaid work of men across 38 OECD countries
OECD Ecoscope, Reaching Equal Pay: A Pending Job, 2025 — women average around four hours a day on unpaid work, twice the rate of men

Walker, M., Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams, Penguin, 2017 — adults sleeping under seven hours show impaired immune function and increased disease risk. Note: some of Walker’s specific figures have been disputed by academic reviewers; consider pairing with a peer-reviewed source such as Besedovsky, Lange & Born, “Sleep and Immune Function,” Pflügers Archiv, 2012
Laukkanen, J.A. et al., Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing: A Review of the Evidence, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2018 — regular sauna use linked to lower blood pressure and reduced cardiovascular disease risk
Systematic review, Effects of Cold-Water Immersion on Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, 2025 — cold water immersion shows time-dependent effects on inflammation and immunity (effects are more modest/nuanced than commonly claimed — worth noting in the text)

Buettner, D., Power 9, Blue Zones — knowing your purpose (ikigai) worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy

Harvard Gazette, Over Nearly 80 Years, Harvard Study Has Been Showing How to Live a Healthy and Happy Life, 2017 — quality of relationships is the strongest predictor of health and happiness in later life (Harvard Study of Adult Development, Robert Waldinger)

AARP, Disconnected: The Escalating Challenge of Loneliness Among Adults 45-Plus, 2025 — 46% of adults aged 45–59 report loneliness; men report slightly higher rates than women (42% vs 37%)