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Gender Inequality after Divorce: The Flip Side of Marital Specialization - Evidence from a French Administrative Database

Author

Listed:
  • C. BONNET

    (Ined)

  • B. GARBINTI

    (Insee, Crest)

  • A. SOLAZ

    (Ined)

Abstract

If divorce has large consequences on both ex-spouses, its economic impact may be very different for each partner. It is well-documented that women generally experience a large decrease of their living standards after union dissolution, whereas men's living standards are often presented as stable or increase. Thanks to a very rich administrative dataset on French couples who broke up their marriage in 2009, matched with identical still married spouses, we interestingly show that both women and men support a loss in average, but still of larger magnitude for women (19%) than for men (2.5%). Results show that the number of children only plays a minor role in the explanations of the large women's impoverishment. The share of couple's resources each spouse provides before divorce, resulting mainly from marital specialization, is the main driver. Child support payments, public transfers and the massive labor market reentry of inactive women mitigate but do not cancel post-divorce gender inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Bonnet & B. Garbinti & A. Solaz, 2016. "Gender Inequality after Divorce: The Flip Side of Marital Specialization - Evidence from a French Administrative Database," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2016-03, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    • Handle: RePEc:nse:doctra:g2016-03
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    File URL: https://www.bnsp.insee.fr/ark:/12148/bc6p06zrcd3/f1.pdf
    File Function: Document de travail de la DESE numéro G2016-03
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Perivier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France - une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    2. Guillaume Allegre & Hélène Périvier & Muriel Pucci, 2019. "Imposition des couples en France et statut marital : simulation de trois réformes du quotient conjugal," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2019-05, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1u4nmlgre68gopcegtmgm6cb5s is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1lc919l7sm8pt87iaubt8n43lo is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Guillaume Allegre & Hélène Périvier & Muriel Pucci Porte, 2019. "Imposition des couples en France et statut marital : simulation de trois réformes du quotient familial," Working Papers hal-03403189, HAL.
    6. 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.
    7. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Périvier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France: Une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Sciences Po publications 2017-03, Sciences Po.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/445bs70a2o9ufavlerqnopsvg1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Périvier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France," Working Papers hal-03457505, HAL.
    10. Giulia Ferrari & Carole Bonnet & Anne Solaz, 2019. "‘Will the one who keeps the children keep the house?’ Residential mobility after divorce by parenthood status and custody arrangements in France," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(14), pages 359-394.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Divorce; living standards; gender inequalities; child support payment; alimony; lone parents; labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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