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Women's Labour Market Position and Divorce in the Netherlands: Evaluating Economic Interpretations of the Work Effect

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  • Anne-Rigt Poortman

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Matthijs Kalmijn

    (Tilburg University)

Abstract

This article studies theinfluence of women's work on the risk ofdivorce, using data from the Netherlands. Weexamine economic interpretations of the workeffect by disentangling the work effect intofive dimensions: (a) the intensity of wife'swork, (b) the status of wife's work, (c)potential labour market success, (d) relativelabour market success (vis-à-vis thehusband), and (e) the division of domesticlabour. Our results show that working womenhave a 22 percent higher risk of divorce thanwomen who do not work. Subsequently, ourfindings show that there is no significantpositive effect of women's economicoccupational status on divorce and that labourmarket opportunities have little effect. Inaddition, the influence of the division oflabour on divorce is not relative, notsymmetric, and does not extend to domesticlabour. All in all, these findings do notsupport economic interpretations of the workeffect and confirm earlier criticisms arguingthat sociological interpretations are morepromising. This line of reasoning is furtherconfirmed by our finding that the effect ofwife's work on divorce has decreased over timewhile the effect of husband's contribution todomestic work on divorce has increased.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Rigt Poortman & Matthijs Kalmijn, 2002. "Women's Labour Market Position and Divorce in the Netherlands: Evaluating Economic Interpretations of the Work Effect," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 175-202, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:18:y:2002:i:2:d:10.1023_a:1015520411449
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1015520411449
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    2. Saul D. Hoffman & Greg J. Duncan, 1995. "The Effect of Incomes, Wages, and AFDC Benefits on Marital Disruption," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(1), pages 19-41.
    3. Peters, H Elizabeth, 1993. "The Importance of Financial Considerations in Divorce Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(1), pages 71-86, January.
    4. Johnson, William R & Skinner, Jonathan, 1986. "Labor Supply and Marital Separation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 455-469, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Torkild Lyngstad, 2004. "The impact of parent's and spouses' education on divorce rates in Norway," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 10(5), pages 121-142.
    2. 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.
    3. Wilfred Uunk, 2004. "The Economic Consequences of Divorce for Women in the European Union: The Impact of Welfare State Arrangements," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(3), pages 251-285, September.
    4. Giammarco Alderotti & Cecilia Tomassini & Daniele Vignoli, 2022. "‘Silver splits’ in Europe: The role of grandchildren and other correlates," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(21), pages 619-652.
    5. Paul J. Boyle & Hill Kulu & Thomas Cooke & Vernon Gayle & Clara H. Mulder, 2006. "The effect of moving on union dissolution," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-002, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    6. Magdalena Muszyńska-Spielauer, 2008. "Women’s employment and union dissolution in a changing socio-economic context in Russia," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(6), pages 181-204.
    7. Thalberg, Sara, 2003. "Demographic Patterns in Europe. A review of Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania," Arbetsrapport 2003:8, Institute for Futures Studies.
    8. Daniele Vignoli & Irene Ferro, 2009. "Rising marital disruption in Italy and its correlates," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 20(4), pages 11-36.
    9. Martin Dribe & Christer Lundh, 2012. "Intermarriage, Value Context and Union Dissolution: Sweden 1990–2005 [Mariage mixte, contexte des valeurs et rupture d’union: Suède 1990–2005]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(2), pages 139-158, May.
    10. Mariam M. Elgendi & Sherry H. Stewart & Danika I. DesRoches & Penny Corkum & Raquel Nogueira-Arjona & S. Hélène Deacon, 2022. "Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-34, December.

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