Widows and widowers also can play one benefit against the other, he says.

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The alternative would be to introduce equal, but lesser, benefits for widows and widowers or even to scrap them altogether.

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Second, thanks to increased longevity, bereaved spouses are outliving their partners for longer than the widows and widowers of yesteryear.

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Football widows and widowers can rejoice, unless of course your spouse, roommate or alternate personality had a thing for NASCAR college basketball.

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So is the aging of the population, creating more single widows and widowers, an effect that will grow as the baby boom retires.

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Just 19 percent of widows and widowers in that age group are sexually active compared with 59 percent of married women and men.

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In her 30-plus years as Dear Abby, Phillips answered inquiries from all types: teenage girls, teenage boys, young women, exasperated mothers-in-law, elderly widows and widowers.

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As a result, less than 25% of widows and widowers of spouses who died prematurely (age 30 to 55) felt their spouse had adequate life insurance.

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Ms Miller told MPs there were "fundamental policy" issues that needed to be considered with "financial implications", such as pension entitlements for heterosexual civil partners, widows and widowers.

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It involves a tax break for widows and widowers that was made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Tax Act of 2012 after a two-year introductory period.

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