IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ese/iserwp/2014-30.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Partnership dissolution: how does it affect income, employment and well-being?

Author

Listed:
  • Brewer, Mike
  • Nandi, Alita

Abstract

We assess comprehensively how incomes, employment, housing, mental health and life satisfaction change following a partnership dissolution, using data from 18 waves of BHPS. We confirm that women and children see living standards decline by more than men, on average, upon separation, but find that the fall in living standards is much greater for those women and children formally in high-income households; it is also high for older women with non-dependent children. We find that mental health and life satisfaction decline around separation, but both return quickly to pre-split levels at rates which are little related to post- split circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Brewer, Mike & Nandi, Alita, 2014. "Partnership dissolution: how does it affect income, employment and well-being?," ISER Working Paper Series 2014-30, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-30
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/files/working-papers/iser/2014-30.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew E. Clark & Yannis Georgellis, 2013. "Back to Baseline in Britain: Adaptation in the British Household Panel Survey," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(319), pages 496-512, July.
    2. Andrew E. Clark & Yannis Georgellis, 2013. "Back to Baseline in Britain: Adaptation in the British Household Panel Survey," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(319), pages 496-512, July.
    3. Elizabeth O. Ananat & Guy Michaels, 2008. "The Effect of Marital Breakup on the Income Distribution of Women with Children," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 611-629.
    4. Ermisch, John, 2002. "Trying again: repartnering after dissolution of a union," ISER Working Paper Series 2002-19, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Arnstein Aassve & Gianni Betti & Stefano Mazzuco & Letizia Mencarini, 2007. "Marital disruption and economic well‐being: a comparative analysis," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 170(3), pages 781-799, July.
    6. P. Jenkins, Stephen, 2008. "Marital splits and income changes over the longer term," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. Paul Gregg & Susan Harkness & Sarah Smith, 2009. "Welfare Reform and Lone Parents in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(535), pages 38-65, February.
    8. Jonathan Gardner & Andrew J. Oswald, 2006. "Do divorcing couples become happier by breaking up?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 169(2), pages 319-336, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fitzsimons, Emla & Villadsen, Aase, 2019. "Father departure and children's mental health: How does timing matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 349-358.
    2. Yajing Zhu & Fiona Steele & Irini Moustaki, 2020. "A multilevel structural equation model for the interrelationships between multiple latent dimensions of childhood socio‐economic circumstances, partnership transitions and mid‐life health," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(3), pages 1029-1050, June.
    3. Natasha Wood & Anne McMunn & Elizabeth Webb & Mai Stafford, 2019. "Marriage and physical capability at mid to later life in England and the USA," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Francesca Fiori, 2019. "Who leaves, who stays? Gendered routes out of the family home following union dissolution in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(20), pages 533-560.
    5. Rory Coulter & Michael Thomas, 2019. "A new look at the housing antecedents of separation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(26), pages 725-760.
    6. Khoudja, Yassine & Platt, Lucinda, 2016. "Labour market entries and exits of women from different origin countries in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65384, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Marion Leturcq & Lidia Panico, 2019. "The Long-Term Effects of Parental Separation on Childhood Multidimensional Deprivation: A Lifecourse Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 921-954, July.
    8. Zhu, Yajing & Steele, Fiona & Moustaki, Irini, 2020. "A multilevel structural equation model for the interrelationships between multiple latent dimensions of childhood socio‐economic circumstances, partnership transitions and mid‐life health," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103104, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Yassine Khoudja & Lucinda Platt, 2016. "Labour market entries and exits of women from different origin countries in the UK," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1603, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    10. Platt, Lucinda & Haux, Tina & Rosenberg, Rachel, 2015. "Mothers, parenting and the impact of separation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62352, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Janosch Schobin, 2022. "Loneliness and Emancipation: A Multilevel Analysis of the Connection between Gender Inequality, Loneliness, and Social Isolation in the ISSP 2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Bram Hogendoorn, 2022. "Why do Socioeconomic Differences in Women’s Living Standards Converge After Union Dissolution?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 577-622, August.
    13. Tina Haux & Lucinda Platt & Rachel Rosenberg, 2015. "Mothers, parenting and the impact of separation," CASE Papers /190, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    14. Michael J. Thomas & Clara H. Mulder & Thomas J. Cooke, 2018. "Geographical Distances Between Separated Parents: A Longitudinal Analysis," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(4), pages 463-489, October.
    15. Popova, Daria & Navicke, Jekaterina, 2019. "The probability of poverty for mothers after childbirth and divorce in Europe: the role of social stratification and tax-benefit policies," EUROMOD Working Papers EM11/19, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    16. Khoudja, Yassine & Platt, Lucinda, 2017. "Labour market entries and and exits of women from different origin countries in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 85075, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. O’Leary, Nigel & Li, Ian W. & Gupta, Prashant & Blackaby, David, 2020. "Wellbeing trajectories around life events in Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 499-509.
    2. Frijters, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Ulker, Aydogan, 2023. "Should bads be inflicted all at once, like Machiavelli said? Evidence from life-satisfaction data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1-27.
    3. Younghwan Song & Jia Gao, 2023. "Do fathers have son preference in the United States? Evidence from paternal subjective well-being," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1083-1117, September.
    4. Diriwaechter, Patric & Shvartsman, Elena, 2018. "The anticipation and adaptation effects of intra- and interpersonal wage changes on job satisfaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 116-140.
    5. Abreu, Maria & Oner, Ozge & Brouwer, Aleid & van Leeuwen, Eveline, 2019. "Well-being effects of self-employment: A spatial inquiry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 589-607.
    6. Susan Harkness, 2016. "The Effect of Employment on the Mental Health of Lone Mothers in the UK Before and After New Labour’s Welfare Reforms," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 763-791, September.
    7. Paul Hagstrom & Stephen Wu, 2016. "Are pregnant women happier? Racial and ethnic differences in the relationship between pregnancy and life satisfaction in the United States," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 507-527, September.
    8. Frijters, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Ulker, Aydogan, 2020. "Machiavelli versus concave utility functions: should bads be spread out or concentrated?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108421, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    10. Nils Lerch, 2018. "The Causal Analysis of the Development of the Unemployment Effect on Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 991, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Andrew E. Clark, 2015. "SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being," Working Papers halshs-01134483, HAL.
    12. Lionel WILNER, 2019. "The Dynamics of Individual Happiness," Working Papers 2019-18, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    13. Kaiser, Caspar, 2020. "People do not adapt. New analyses of the dynamic effects of own and reference income on life satisfaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 494-513.
    14. Stefano Bartolini & Francesco Sarracino, 2014. "It's not the economy, stupid! How social capital and GDP relate to happiness over time," Papers 1411.2138, arXiv.org.
    15. Zeynep B. UGUR, 2023. "Do People Adapt to Unemployment? Findings from Türkiye," Istanbul Journal of Economics-Istanbul Iktisat Dergisi, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 73(73-2), pages 781-810, December.
    16. Jianbo Luo, 2020. "A Pecuniary Explanation for the Heterogeneous Effects of Unemployment on Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2603-2628, October.
    17. Ferdi Botha & John P. de New, 2020. "COVID-19 infections, labour market shocks, and subjective well-being," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2020n14, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. Andrew E. Clark, 2016. "Adaptation and the Easterlin Paradox," Creative Economy, in: Toshiaki Tachibanaki (ed.), Advances in Happiness Research, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 75-94, Springer.
    19. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D’Ambrosio & Simone Ghislandi, 2016. "Adaptation to Poverty in Long-Run Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(3), pages 591-600, July.
    20. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Fiore, Simona & Pasini, Giacomo, 2020. "Divorce and well-being. Disentangling the role of stress and socio economic status," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-30. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jonathan Nears (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rcessuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.