The association between weight and marriage has been an important issue in social science. In understanding the relationship between marital status and body weight, there are four perspectives: (1) the marriage selection hypothesis; (2) the marriage obligation hypothesis; (3) the marriage protection hypothesis; and (4) the marriage market hypothesis. With longitudinal survey data from the Panel Survey of Family Dynamics (2004 to 2018), this analysis examined gender differences in the relationship between marital status and body weight. We found support for the marriage selection effect, in that both men and women with a lower body mass index (BMI) are more likely to get married than their counterparts with higher BMI. Using fixed effects models, our findings also support the marriage obligation and marriage market hypotheses. On the one hand, marriage is associated with weight gain for both men and women. On the other hand, married women tend to gain more weight than married men. We found no support for the marriage protection perspective. Keywords: marital status, body mass index (BMI), panel data, fixed effects models

Subjective well-being (SWB) can be represented by happiness and life satisfaction. In the literature, happiness often is represented by life satisfaction. Contemporary SWB research has been debating whether there is a U-shaped relationship between age and happiness. That is, the young and the elderly show a high level of SWB, while the middle-aged shows a low level of SWB. This study first reviews the debate over international studies on the U-shaped curve, then uses the Panel Study of Family Dynamics (PSFD) to investigate the relationship between age and SWB, and finds that the U-shaped relationship is more significant for the total effect than for the direct effect. The total effect is the effect of age on happiness derived from a model without control, while the direct effect is the effect of age on happiness derived from a model with control. Life satisfaction shows a more U-shaped pattern than happiness does, in line with the literature. Income is more correlated with life satisfaction than happiness. Men’s life satisfaction U-shape is correlated to income, while women’s life satisfaction U-shape is unrelated to income. This reflects the fact that one’s economiccondition has greater influence on cognitive SWB—life satisfaction than on emotional SWB—happiness. Keywords: happiness, life satisfaction, subjective well-being, age, U-shape

In the past, the case of elderly parents living with their children was considered a manifestation of filial piety in Eastern societies. However, in recent years, the media have used the term “parasite singles/couples” to describe grown-up children who are economically dependent on their elderly parents and has constructed a stigmatized image of them. In fact, there are various factors leading to grown-up children depending on elderly parents economically; however, at present, only a few such cases are being reported, causing a narrow understanding of this group among the public. Since there is no empirical research that specifically addresses this group, this study utilizes the 2010 population and census data of Taiwan and focuses on the grown-up population aged between 30 and 54 years, unemployed, living with their elderly parents, and economically dependent on them. The study analyzes the characteristics of the families, parents, and children to explore the effects such as human capital, family life course, and family care need on grown-up children depending on their parents.The research findings are as follows: (1) grown-up children with weak human capital are more likely to depend on their elderly parents; (2) single/ unmarried grown-up children have a higher possibility of dependence; (3) grown-up children who have a relative in need of long-term care have an increased possibility of depending on their parents for their economic needs. Keywords: parasite singles/couples, population census, grown-up children, elderly parents