Deadbeat after Divorce? Policy Reform and Men’s Employment Trajectories after Union Dissolution in Germany

Sarah Schmauk , Hertie School
Michaela Kreyenfeld, Hertie School of Governance

This study uses register data from the German Pension Fund to analyse the employment trajectories of men around the divorce process. We follow men from two years prior up to five years after separation and examine whether divorce has led to unstable employment trajectories. We test whether patterns differ according to the pre-divorce earner model ('male breadwinner model' versus 'dual earner model'). Further, we analyse how patterns have changed for divorce cohorts who separated before and after 2008, when Germany introduced a major reform of the ex-spousal maintenance system. As a method, we use sequence and cluster analysis. Matching techniques are furthermore used to construct appropriate control groups, which allow us to compare the trajectories of divorced men with men who did not divorce during the same period, but who are comparable on other dimensions. Preliminary analysis shows that divorce has a negative effect on men's subsequent employment careers, but that this effect was mitigated after the reform.

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 Presented in Session 79. Till Death (or Divorce) do us Part