IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v46y2022i15.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The long-term improvement in father–child relationships after divorce: Descriptive findings from the Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Frederique Van Spijker

    (Onderzoek, Informatie en Statistiek, Amsterdam)

  • Matthijs Kalmijn

    (Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI))

  • Ruben van Gaalen

    (Universiteit van Amsterdam)

Abstract

Background: Little is known about how the negative effect of parental divorce on father–child relations has changed over time. Existing cohort studies do not contain questions on father–child relationships after divorce and the investigated time period is often short. Objective: The aim of this study is to describe long-term changes in the association between parental divorce and father–child contact. Methods: We used pooled cross-sectional surveys from the Netherlands (N = 24,172) containing retrospective questions about respondents’ relations with parents during childhood. We compared divorce cohorts to examine trends. We used interaction effects of cohort and education to compare trends across educational groups. Results: The results show that father–child relations after divorce improved across cohorts. There was a spectacular decline in the share of children who did not see their father after divorce, and if they did maintain contact there was also an increase – albeit more modest – in the perceived quality of the tie. Ironically, because the share of non-existent relationships declined so quickly, there was also an increase in the overall share of poor relationships with fathers. We further observe strong educational differences in post-divorce relationships with fathers, but these differences declined across divorce cohorts. Conclusions: The quality of father–child relations after divorce improved considerably across cohorts. This trend is interpreted in terms of the institutionalization of divorce (less stigma and better legal arrangements for fathers) and changing gender roles. Contribution: This trend is interpreted in terms of the institutionalization of divorce (less stigma and better legal arrangements for fathers) and in terms of changing gender roles.

Suggested Citation

  • Frederique Van Spijker & Matthijs Kalmijn & Ruben van Gaalen, 2022. "The long-term improvement in father–child relationships after divorce: Descriptive findings from the Netherlands," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(15), pages 441-452.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:46:y:2022:i:15
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2022.46.15
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol46/15/46-15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2022.46.15?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. An Katrien Sodermans & Koen Matthijs & Gray Swicegood, 2013. "Characteristics of joint physical custody families in Flanders," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(29), pages 821-848.
    2. Jacob Cheadle & Paul Amato & Valarie King, 2010. "Patterns of nonresident father contact," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(1), pages 205-225, February.
    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. Matthijs Kalmijn, 2023. "Weakened parent–child ties and the well-being of older divorced parents," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(21), pages 591-608.

    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. Zuzana Zilincikova & Christine Schnor, 2023. "Trends in Distance Between Non-resident Parents and Minor Children Following Separation: Analysis of the Belgian Case, 1992–2018," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-35, December.
    2. Guido de Blasio & Daniela Vuri, 2019. "Effects of the Joint Custody Law in Italy," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 479-514, September.
    3. repec:pri:crcwel:wp12-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Laura Tach & Kathryn Edin & Hope Harvey & Brielle Bryan, 2014. "The Family-Go-Round," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 169-184, July.
    5. Helena Holmlund & Helmut Rainer & Thomas Siedler, 2013. "Meet the Parents? Family Size and the Geographic Proximity Between Adult Children and Older Mothers in Sweden," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 903-931, June.
    6. Karen Benjamin Guzzo, 2014. "New Partners, More Kids," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 654(1), pages 66-86, July.
    7. Wiebke Schulz, 2022. "Do the consequences of parental separation for children’s educational success vary by parental education? The role of educational thresholds," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(28), pages 883-918.
    8. Brienna Perelli-Harris & Mark Amos, 2015. "Changes in partnership patterns across the life course," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(6), pages 145-178.
    9. Tomás Cano & Pablo Gracia, 2022. "The Gendered Effects of Divorce on Mothers’ and Fathers’ Time with Children and Children’s Developmental Activities: A Longitudinal Study," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1277-1313, December.
    10. Carole Bonnet & Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz, 2022. "Does Part-Time Mothering Help Get a Job? The Role of Shared Custody in Women’s Employment," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 885-913, December.
    11. Claire M. Kamp Dush & Letitia E. Kotila & Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan, 2010. "Do Relationship and Child Characteristics Predict Supportive Coparenting After Relationship Dissolution Among At-Risk Parents?," Working Papers 1280, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    12. Julia Alamillo, "undated". "Family Structure and Reproduction of Inequality: A Decomposition Approach," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 848d4b9e0bd14c8191ed1277b, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Lars Dommermuth, 2016. "Children as family commuters. The geographical distance between nonresident parents and children in Norway," Discussion Papers 841, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    14. Ronald Mincy & Hillard Pouncy & Afshin Zilanawala, 2016. "Race, Romance and Nonresident Father Involvement Resilience: Differences by types of involvement," Working Papers wp16-05-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    15. Christine Schnor & Sofie Vanassche & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Stepfather or biological father? Education-specific pathways of postdivorce fatherhood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(51), pages 1659-1694.
    16. Matthijs Kalmijn, 2015. "Family Disruption and Intergenerational Reproduction: Comparing the Influences of Married Parents, Divorced Parents, and Stepparents," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 811-833, June.
    17. Tina Haux & Lucinda Platt, 2021. "Fathers’ Involvement with Their Children Before and After Separation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 151-177, March.
    18. Astrid Würtz Rasmussen & Leslie S. Stratton, 2016. "How distance to a non-resident parent relates to child outcomes," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 829-857, December.
    19. Berman, Rakel, 2018. "Children's influence on dual residence arrangements: Exploring decision-making practices," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 105-114.
    20. Tara Koster & Teresa Castro-Martín, 2021. "Are Separated Fathers Less or More Involved in Childrearing than Partnered Fathers?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(4), pages 933-957, November.
    21. Tracey, Marlon R. & Polachek, Solomon W., 2018. "If looks could heal: Child health and paternal investment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 179-190.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    divorce; parent-child relations; fathers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    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:dem:demres:v:46:y:2022:i:15. 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: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    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.