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. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00846456 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. 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.
    3. Ermisch, John, 2002. "Trying again: repartnering after dissolution of a union," ISER Working Paper Series 2002-19, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    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. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Tina Haux & Lucinda Platt & Rachel Rosenberg, 2015. "Mothers, parenting and the impact of separation," CASE Papers /190, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.

    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. Peter Fallesen & Richard Breen, 2016. "Temporary Life Changes and the Timing of Divorce," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1377-1398, October.
    4. 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.
    5. Bucheli, Marisa & Vigorito, Andrea, 2019. "Union dissolution and well-being in Uruguay," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 61-71.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Wolfgang Frimmel & Martin Halla & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2013. "Assortative mating and divorce: evidence from Austrian register data," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(4), pages 907-929, October.
    12. Wu, Fengyu & Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2024. "Mitigating Life Challenges to Subjective Well-being through Civic Engagement: Insights from a Global Perspective," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1489, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. 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.
    14. Carole Bonnet & Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz, 2021. "The flip side of marital specialization: the gendered effect of divorce on living standards and labor supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 515-573, April.
    15. 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.
    16. Christiaan W. S. Monden & Wilfred J. G. Uunk, 2013. "For Better and for Worse: The Relationship Between Union Dissolution and Self-Assessed Health in European Panel Data," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 103-125, February.
    17. Anne-Lise Biotteau & Carole Bonnet & Emmanuelle Cambois, 2019. "Risk of Major Depressive Episodes After Separation: The Gender-Specific Contribution of the Income and Support Lost Through Union Dissolution," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(3), pages 519-542, July.
    18. 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.
    19. Blundell, Richard & Francesconi, Marco & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2011. "Anatomy of Welfare Reform Evaluation: Announcement and Implementation Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 6050, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Guven, Cahit & Senik, Claudia & Stichnoth, Holger, 2012. "You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 110-130.

    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.