Revisiting the Association between Women’s Economic Independence and Separation: What Can We Learn from Multi-Country Panel Studies?

Matthijs Kalmijn, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Research Institute NIDI/University of Groningen
Konrad KL Turek , Tilburg University

We reexamine one of the most discussed hypotheses in divorce studies, namely the idea that women’s economic independence facilitates union dissolution. Women have traditionally depended more on their spouse's socio-economic status than men due to weaker labour market conditions, gender pay gap, and traditional family roles. Having a higher level of employment and income allows them to leave the marriage with less damage to their economic stability and more psychological self-confidence. However, research on this topic is contradictory, , especially when considered in the context of changing socio-economic conditions for women. This study uses large-scale national household panel studies from Australia, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, the UK, and the US (harmonised using the Comparative Panel File) to analyse the association between married and cohabiting women’s employment status and their risk of divorce or separation. The extensive, longitudinal, and high-quality data (period 1990-2021, analytical sample: 1,438,113 observations and 189,670 respondents) provide new insights, contributing to the knowledge about the gendered nature of union dissolution. Using discrete-time event history analysis, we show that economic independence corresponds to a higher risk of divorce for women, while in the case of men, it plays no role. We also use growth curve modelling to track trajectories of working hours for men and women who experience divorce and find that women tend to increase their work engagement before and after union dissolution. The comparative analyses show important country differences, allowing discussion on the role of welfare support and socio-economic context.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 15. Union Dissolution