Research on the division of household labor has typically examined the role of time availability, relative resources, and gender ideology. We explore the gendered meaning of domestic work by examining the role of men's and women's attitudes toward household labor. Using data from the Dutch Time Competition Survey (N = 732), we find that women have more favorable attitudes toward cleaning, cooking, and child care than do men: Women enjoy it more, set higher standards for it, and feel more responsible for it. Furthermore, women's favorable and men's unfavorable attitudes are associated with women's greater contribution to household labor. Effects are stronger for housework than child care, own attitudes matter more than partner's, and men's attitudes are more influential than women's.

Contrary to previous studies treating divorce as a couple's decision, we make a distinction between 'his', 'her', and 'their' divorce by using information about who initiated divorce. Using competing risk analysis, we reexamine four well-known determinants of divorce: (i) the wife's employment, (ii) the financial situation of the household, (iii) the presence of children, and (iv) the quality of the match. Because existing arguments on the underlying mechanisms focus on the relative costs and benefits of a divorce for the wife, the husband and/or the couple, this approach offers new insights into the validity of competing theories. Our results confirm some theoretical interpretations, but they refute others. Furthermore, our findings shed light on the gendered nature of divorce. We not only find that women more often take the initiative to divorce, we also find that many social and economic determinants have stronger effects on 'her' divorce than on 'his' divorce. The one exception is children, which seem to affect men's decision to (not) divorce more strongly than women's decision.

In 2009 the Dutch legislator introduced a law that sought to encourage shared residence. We summarize key findings on shared residence from prior work in the Netherlands, and present new data. Previous research showed that shared residence has increased steadily in recent decades. Our recent estimates revealed that shared residence increased from nearly 20% in 2008 (prereform) to 28% in 2010 (postreform). Official court data showed a decline again to a little over 20% in 2013. We also found shared residence to be less a stable arrangement than mother or father residence. Consistent with earlier studies, parents with shared residence were found to be well‐resourced parents with little conflict and few personal problems. These parents were also more likely to maintain this arrangement, but the instability of shared residence also appeared to be related to practical circumstances and to children's needs. Earlier findings on the consequences of shared residence for child and parent well‐being were mixed, but suggest positive effects.

This study investigates the diversity in the meanings attached to cohabitation across Europe.Utilizing a sample of 9,113 cohabiters between ages 18 and 79 from ten European countries that participated in the Generations and Gender Surveys, we develop a typology of different meanings of cohabitation and study their prevalence across and within countries. Based on answers to questions about marriage intentions, marriage attitudes and feelings of economic deprivation, six types of cohabiters are distinguished. Cohabiters in some of these types mainly view cohabitation as a stage in the marriage process (i.e., a prelude to marriage, a trial marriage, cohabitation for economic reasons, intend to marry despite an unfavourable attitude towards the institution of marriage), whereas other cohabiters mainly view it as an alternative to marriage (i.e., refusal of marriage, marriage is irrelevant). Results suggest that cohabiters constitute a heterogeneous group. For many, marriage is important and cohabitation serves as a period preceding marriage. Cohabitation as an alternative to marriage is more prevalent in Western and Northern Europe where cohabitation rates are high. The group of cohabiters who intend to marry despite an unfavourable attitude towards the institution of marriage is particularly large in Central and Eastern European countries, where cohabitation is less widespread.

Using retrospective data from the survey Divorce in the Netherlands 1998, I examine the influence of the relationship career on chances of union formation. Frailty models accounting for unobserved heterogeneity show that previous union experiences reduce chances of union formation. Furthermore, formerly married persons are less likely to enter a new union than former cohabiters, and so are people who had short-lived prior unions or had children. Findings also indicate that the first cut is the deepest. Union formation probabilities drop substantially after the first union dissolves but remain constant after subsequent break-ups. Finally, the impact of prior union experiences on subsequent union formation is generally found to be stronger for women than men.