Income dynamics in couples and the dissolution of marriage and cohabitation

Abstract

Several studies have shown that a wife's strong (socio)economic position is associated with an increase in the risk of divorce. Less is known about such effects for cohabiting relationships. Using a unique and large-scale sample of administrative records from The Netherlands, we analyze the link between couples' income dynamics and union dissolution for married and cohabiting unions over a 10-year period. We find negative effects of household income on separation and positive effects of the woman's relative income, in line with earlier studies. The shape of the effect of the woman's relative income, however, depends on the type of union. Movements away from income equality toward a male-dominant pattern tend to increase the dissolution risk for cohabiting couples, whereas they reduce the dissolution risk for married couples. Movements away from income equality toward a female-dominant pattern (reverse specialization) increase the dissolution risks for both marriage and cohabitation. The findings suggest that equality is more protective for cohabitation, whereas specialization is more protective for marriage, although only when it fits a traditional pattern. Finally, we find that the stabilizing effects of income equality are more pronounced early in the marriage and that income equality also reduces the dissolution risk for same-sex couples.

Family Dynamics and Child Outcomes: An Overview of Research and Open Questions

“…Besides changes in family relationships, a breakup of a household can lead to a drop in economic resources (e.g., Uunk 2004). Depending on the country, separated parents may need to adjust their labor supply to meet their new time and economic demands (Kalmijn et al 2007;Uunk 2004). Many children also need to move after their parents' separation, which requires adjustment to a new home environment and possibly a new neighborhood and school.…”

Earnings and first birth probability among Norwegian men and women 1995-2010

“…In the Nordic context, empirical studies show a positive impact of earnings on union entry for both men (Petersen, Penner, and Høgsnes 2011;Sweeney 2002) and women (Bracher and Santow 1998;Jalovaara 2012), overall lending support to the theory of pooling of resources. The results for union dissolution are more mixed: A similar earnings level between cohabiting spouses is correlated with reduced risk of union dissolution (Brines and Joyner 1999;Jalovaara 2013;Kalmijn, Loeve, and Manting 2007), while his higher earnings protect against divorce and her higher earnings elevates the divorce risk (Lyngstad 2004 for Norway; Jalovaara 2003 for Finland). In sum, higher earnings are expected to facilitate union entry and stability across sex -though slightly more for men than for women -contributing to a positive correlation between earnings and the transition to parenthood.…”

Economic Determinants of Divorce Among Dual-Earner Couples: Jews in Israel

“…The age difference between the spouses is also included in the analysis, because according to Becker et al (1977) and Kalmijn et al (2007), large age differences are believed to be destabilizing and may also be related to differences in income between the spouses. The age difference is measured by one dichotomous variable which is equal to 1 if the age difference is 9 years or more, and to 0 otherwise.…”

“…The current study maps the main theories that explain differences in divorce rates by economic variables, and uses a unique set of register-based data for Jewish dualearner couples in Israel from the late 1990s to clarify the theoretical typology which these perspectives suggest. This paper is an addition to the relatively small number of existing studies on the economic determinants of divorce that have also used register-based data from different countries [for example, Jalovaara (2001Jalovaara ( , 2003 from Finland; Hansen (2005) and Lyngstad (2011) from Norway; Kalmijn et al (2007) from the Netherlands; and Henz and Jonsson (2003) and Dribe and Stanfors (2010) from Sweden]. As our dataset links between population registry data and census data, it yields a longitudinal design and a large sample size, both of which are a prerequisite for any meaningful study on antecedents of divorce.…”