Interactions Between Cultural and Economic Determinants of Divorce in The Netherlands

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between gendered family roles and divorce in The Netherlands. Cultural and economic aspects of this relationship are distinguished. Economic hypotheses argue that the likelihood of divorce is increased if women work for pay and have attractive labor market resources. Cultural hypotheses argue that divorce chances are increased if women adhere to emancipatory norms, independent of their labor market positions. An event‐history analysis of a life‐history survey among 1,289 Dutch women reveals evidence for both hypotheses. Interaction effects are found as well: The protective effect of a traditional division of paid labor is only present among couples in which wives have traditional gender attitudes. Hence, the validity of economic explanations of divorce is conditional on cultural values.

Change and Stability in the Social Determinants of Divorce: A Comparison of Marriage Cohorts in the Netherlands

“…Prior research on the determinants of divorce shows that the Netherlands is not a special case. Most of the determinants that were found elsewhere were also found for the Netherlands (Manting, 1994;Fokkema and Liefbroer, 1999;Poortman, 2002;Poortman and Kalmijn, 2002;Kalmijn, 2003;Kalmijn et al, 2004;Kalmijn et al, 2005). One exception is that Kalmijn et al (2004) found a positive effect of the wife's education on divorce and a negative effect of the husband's education.…”

“…Most of the determinants that were found elsewhere were also found for the Netherlands (Manting, 1994;Fokkema and Liefbroer, 1999;Poortman, 2002;Poortman and Kalmijn, 2002;Kalmijn, 2003;Kalmijn et al, 2004;Kalmijn et al, 2005). One exception is that Kalmijn et al (2004) found a positive effect of the wife's education on divorce and a negative effect of the husband's education. The positive effect of the wife's education is usually not found in contemporary data and is attributed by the authors to more liberal attitudes on family issues among higher educated women.…”

Divorce risk factors and their variation over time in Spain

“…When union separation was rare, economic resources were crucial for covering the legal costs associated with divorce, and for starting an independent life. It has also been argued that the positive effect of women's economic independence on divorce is stronger in more traditional settings, such as Spain in the 1950s and 1960s (Kalmijn, De Graaf and Poortman 2004). Moreover, Becker's and Parsons' arguments that working women had a disruptive effect on unions referred to societies in which the model of the male breadwinner was dominant.…”

Changes in Contact and Support Within Intergenerational Relationships in the Netherlands: a Cohort and Time-Sequential Perspective

“…By international comparisons, the divorce rate in the Netherlands is at an intermediate level. Marriage cohort tables show that divorce increased from 2% after five years of marriage for couples married in 1960 to about 13% for couples married in the early 1990s (Kalmijn, De Graaf, & Poortman, 2004). Popenoe (1993) contends that this increase has major consequences, changing the structure and further reducing the functions of families, and divorce has been found to have an adverse effect on parent-child relationships (Aquilino, 1994;Eggebeen, 1992).…”