The role of income and gender unemployment in divorce rate among the OECD countries

Abstract

Economic stability is one of the most important factors to consider when examining marriage sustainability or divorce. Consequently, the current study examined the influence of income and gender unemployment on divorce in a panel study of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 1995–2016. Empirical results show that gross domestic product per capita as a measure of income level has a negative and significant impact on the divorce rate only in the long run. In addition, findings indicated that an increase in the female unemployment level would lead to a decrease in the divorce rate, while increase in male unemployment will lead to an increase in the divorce rate in the long run. Based on the results, we infer that for individuals to sustain their romantic relationships, income sustainability is highly essential. The implication of our findings is that economic stability measured by the income level of an individual is highly essential in achieving marital stability in a romantic relationship. Hence, the study offers useful policy directions for households, governments, and other stakeholders, especially in the OECD countries.

Ekonomik Resesyonların Boşanma Oranları Üzerindeki Etkileri: Türkiye Üzerine Bir Araştırma

“…Therefore, there is a negative relationship between unemployment rates and divorce rates. The results obtained from studies conducted by Cherlin (1991), Amato & Beattie (2011), Hellerstein & Morrill (2011), Cohen (2014, Payne (2014), Gonz´alez-Val & Marc´en (2017, Schneider & Hastings (2015), Tumin & Qian (2015) and Alola et al (2020) were consistent with the divorce cost approach. Fischer & Liefbroer (2006) concluded that macroeconomic conditions and cultural climate changes affect divorce rates negatively.…”

The Role of Marital Status in the Online Lending Market: Evidence from the Renrendai Platform

“…Due to the failure of their marriages, divorced borrowers may suffer from both psychological and financial challenges (Everett 2014; Dommaraju 2016; Dmitry and Qian 2017; Alola et al . 2020; Hald et al . 2020), leading to their participation in high‐risk projects.…”

“…We believe that these inconsistent conclusions may be attributable to these studies dividing borrowers only into married and unmarried cohorts while not further distinguishing divorced from single borrowers within the unmarried cohort. In terms of divorcees, previous studies show that divorced men are more likely to suffer from social network collapse (Kalmijn 2005), alcoholism (Leopold and Kalmijn 2016), depression (Everett 2014;Hald et al 2020), and unemployment (Dmitry and Qian 2017;Alola et al 2020), whereas divorced women are more likely to suffer from heavy economic pressure (Dommaraju 2016). Thus, compared to single borrowers, divorced borrowers may have a higher probability of default.…”

“…Previous research has demonstrated that educational level is an important determinant for participation in risky financial markets (Cooper and Zhu 2013;Lu and Yin 2021). Due to the failure of their marriages, divorced borrowers may suffer from both psychological and financial challenges (Everett 2014;Dommaraju 2016;Dmitry and Qian 2017;Alola et al 2020;Hald et al 2020), leading to their participation in high-risk projects. More education may facilitate access to refinancing and confer confidence and courage in effectively participating in the complex financial market, which sometimes does not lead to a positive outcome.…”

“…2020), and unemployment (Dmitry and Qian 2017; Alola et al . 2020), whereas divorced women are more likely to suffer from heavy economic pressure (Dommaraju 2016). Thus, compared to single borrowers, divorced borrowers may have a higher probability of default.…”