The Effect of Marriage and Divorce on Women's Economic Well-Being

Smock, Pamela J.; Manning, Wendy D.; Gupta, Sanjiv

doi:10.2307/2657403

Cited by 246 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Following the existing empirical literature (see Becker et al 1977;Bumpass and Sweet 1972;Smock et al 1999;Weiss and Willis 1997), we model the probability of a separation depending on the value of being in marriage versus out-of-marriage (household income, education of spouses, children, duration of marriage) and of the potential threat points of each spouse (individual income, education, age and age difference between spouses, etc.). We are interested in testing the null hypothesis that the coefficient on the happiness gap is not significant.…”

Section: Empirical Specificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce

Güven

Senik²,

Stichnoth

2012

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp10007.pdf Non-technical summaryThis paper asks whether the gap in subjective happiness between spouses matters per se for a couple's risk of separation. We use three panel databases to explore this question.Controlling for the level of life satisfaction of spouses, we find that a higher satisfaction gap, even in the first year of marriage, increases the probability of a separation. We show that this basic relationship between the gap in satisfaction and the probability of separation is robust to a number of different specifications. Moreover, the relationship holds in all three countries that we study: Germany, the UK, and Australia.Our interpretation is that this higher separation probability results from comparisons of well-being between spouses and from an aversion to an unequal distribution of wellbeing. While a growing number of studies has already underlined that comparisons affect individual well-being, the advantage of the present article is to focus on a plausible and important reference group, namely one's own spouse. Another contribution of the article is to show that subjective variables (here, the gap in life satisfaction) matter for objectively measured outcomes such as a couple's separation. Finally, we believe that our result is interesting for the theoretical literature on the economics of the household, which has so far neglected the consequences that an unequal distribution of well-being may have.We also explore the hypothesis that it is assortative mating with respect to the baseline level of happiness that affects the risk of separation. We find that it is not only this baseline level, but also the current level of happiness that matters. First, our results hold in fixed-effects estimates that take away the effect of the initial quality of the match between spouses: fixed-effects estimates suggest that a widening of the happiness gap over time raises the risk of separation. Second, we uncover an asymmetry in the effect of happiness gaps: couples are more likely to break up when the difference in life satisfaction is unfavourable to the wife. The information available in the Australian survey reveals that divorces are indeed predominantly initiated by women, and importantly, by women who are unhappier than their husband. Hence, happiness gaps seem to matter to spouses, not only because they reflect a mismatch in terms of baseline happiness, but because th...

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Section: Empirical Specificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce

Güven

Senik²,

Stichnoth

2012

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

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“…Additionally, remarriage can be an important life event for adults and their children. Divorce is associated with substantial declines in economic well being, especially for women and their children (Holden and Smock 1991;Smock, Manning, and Gupta 1999). Remarriage, however, can provide an additional income earner in the household and is the "surest path to economic recovery" after a divorce (Smock, Manning, and Gupta 1999: 807).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A note on race, ethnicity and nativity differentials in remarriage in the United States

McNamee¹,

Raley²

2011

DemRes

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“…Studies of divorce and separation take a similar approach, using panel data to follow the same individuals' over time to see how their economic circumstances change as a result of partnership transitions (e.g. Jenkins 2008;Brewer and Nandi 2014;DiPrete 2002;Smock et al 1999). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economic Consequences of Becoming a Lone Mother

Harkness

2017

Lone Parenthood in the Life Course

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The Effect of Marriage and Divorce on Women's Economic Well-Being

Cited by 246 publications

References 43 publications

You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce

You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce

A note on race, ethnicity and nativity differentials in remarriage in the United States

The Economic Consequences of Becoming a Lone Mother

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