Relationship breakdown and social exclusion: A longitudinal analysis

David de Vaus, Matthew Gray, Lixia Qu and David Stanton 7 July 2010

Paper presented at the 10th Australian Institute of Family Studies of Conferences, Melbourne

Affiliations

  David de Vaus – University of Queensland

  Matthew Gray - Australian Institute of Family Studies

  Lixia Qu – Australian Institute of Family Studies

  David Stanton – Australian National University

Introduction

  Longitudinal impact of separation

  Pre & post-separation(longitudinal data).

  2 waves pre and 4 waves post separation

  Multidimensional approach

  Our previous study - income, the experience and financial hardships

  Extends previous work

  to consider two time periods prior to separation

  and broadens the range of outcome measures

Measures of financial wellbeing analysed   Equivalent household income

  Experience of financial hardship

  Perceived prosperity

  Measures of social support

  Life satisfaction

  Mental health (SF-36)

Data: The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey

  Use data from the first 8 waves of HILDA (2001-08)

  7,682 household & nearly 14,000 household members interviewed at Wave 1

  Nationally representative

Identifying respondents who separated in the HILDA data

C = Couple S = Single

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8

C C S S S S S S

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8

C C C C C C C C

W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8

C C S S C C C C

Separation

Separation Re-partner

Note: Includes those who separated from de facto relationships.

Pre-separation educational attainment and employment status

Men Women

Intact couple

All separated

Separated -remained

single Intact couple

All separated

Separated - remained

single Per cent

Highest educational attainment

Degree or higher 26.9 17.1 17.4 29.2 18.6 18.7 Other post-school qual 42.8 39.2 38.0 25.9 28.0 29.2 No post-school qual 30.2 43.7 44.6 44.9 53.4 52.1

Employment status

Full-time employed 87.1 76.2 72.8 36.8 40.7 39.6 Part-time employed 6.2 11.1 12.4 37.1 27.7 27.3 Not employed 6.7 12.7 14.8 26.1 31.6 33.2

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Pre-separation educational attainment and employment status

Men Women

Intact couple

All separated

Separated -remained

single Intact couple

All separated

Separated - remained

single Per cent

Highest educational attainment

Degree or higher 26.9 17.1 17.4 29.2 18.6 18.7 Other post-school qual 42.8 39.2 38.0 25.9 28.0 29.2 No post-school qual 30.2 43.7 44.6 44.9 53.4 52.1

Employment status

Full-time employed 87.1 76.2 72.8 36.8 40.7 39.6 Part-time employed 6.2 11.1 12.4 37.1 27.7 27.3 Not employed 6.7 12.7 14.8 26.1 31.6 33.2

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Pre-separation educational attainment and employment status

Men Women

Intact couple

All separated

Separated -remained

single Intact couple

All separated

Separated - remained

single Per cent

Highest educational attainment

Degree or higher 26.9 17.1 17.4 29.2 18.6 18.7 Other post-school qual 42.8 39.2 38.0 25.9 28.0 29.2 No post-school qual 30.2 43.7 44.6 44.9 53.4 52.1

Employment status

Full-time employed 87.1 76.2 72.8 36.8 40.7 39.6 Part-time employed 6.2 11.1 12.4 37.1 27.7 27.3 Not employed 6.7 12.7 14.8 26.1 31.6 33.2

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Equivalent household income by whether divorced & gender, aged under 55 ($2008 per annum)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Equivalent household income by whether divorced & gender, aged under 55 ($2008 per annum)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Equivalent household income by whether divorced & gender, aged under 55 ($2008 per annum)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Equivalent household income by whether divorced & gender, aged under 55 ($2008 per annum)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Equivalent household income, males aged under 55 years

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

$45,000

$50,000

T - 2 T -1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Equivalent household income, females aged under 55 years

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

$45,000

$50,000

T - 2 T -1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Employment status by relationship history, males and females

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Perceived poverty (% poor or very poor) by relationship history, males

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Perceived poverty (% poor or very poor) by relationship history, females

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Experience of financial hardships by relationship history, males (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

0%

20%

40%

60%

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Experience of financial hardships by relationship history, females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

0%

20%

40%

60%

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Often very lonely by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Often very lonely by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Two scales on sense of social support   Scale - “sociability”

  I seem to have a lot of friends

  There is someone who can always cheer me up when I’m down

  I enjoy the time I spend with the people who are important to me

  When something’s on my mind, just talking with the people I know can make me feel better

  When I need someone to help me out, I can usually find someone

Mean score 1–7, high level of “sociability” = 5–7

  Scale - “isolation”   People don’t come to visit me as often as I would like

  I often need help from other people but can’t get it

  I don’t have anyone that I can confide in

  I have no one to lean on in times of trouble

  I often feel very lonely

Mean score 1–7, “isolated”=5–7”

High level of “sociability” by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

High level of “sociability” by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Feeling isolated by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Feeling isolated by relationship history, males and females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Mean “isolation” scale score, males (1-7 scale)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

4.0

4.2

4.4

4.6

4.8

5.0

5.2

5.4

5.6

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated and remained single

Separation

Mean “isolation” scale score, females (1-7 scale)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

4.6

4.7

4.8

4.9

5.0

5.1

5.2

5.3

5.4

5.5

5.6

T-2 T-1 T+1 T+2 T+3 T+4

Intact couple All separated Separated and remained single

Separation

High life satisfaction by relationship history, males and females (%)

High life satisfaction refers to ratings 8-10 on a scale 0–10, higher ratings meaning more satisfied.

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

High life satisfaction by relationship history, males and females (%)

High life satisfaction refers to ratings 8-10 on a scale 0–10, higher ratings meaning more satisfied.

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

High life satisfaction by relationship history, males and females (%)

High life satisfaction refers to ratings 8-10 on a scale 0–10, higher ratings meaning more satisfied.

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

High life satisfaction by relationship history, males and females (%)

High life satisfaction refers to ratings 8-10 on a scale 0–10, higher ratings meaning more satisfied.

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

Mean score of mental health, males (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

60

70

80

T -2 T -1 T +1 T +2 T +3 T +4

All separated Separated & remained single Intact couple

Separation

Mean score of mental health, females (%)

Source: HILDA 2001-2008

60.0

70.0

80.0

T -2 T -1 T +1 T +2 T +3 T +4

Intact couple All separated Separated & remained single

Separation

Summary

  After separation – separated do worse on all measures than intact

  Immediate dip on all measures after separation

  Overall recovery four years after separation

  Most eventual post separation differences predate separation

  Post separation differences (4 years out) between separated and intact reflect pre-separation differences

  Those separating and remaining single recover less well

Summary – gender differences

  General overview holds for men and women except:   Separating women suffer persisting financial loss

  Separating men – extended period of loneliness, low social support, isolation & poorer mental health (cf women)

  Men – immediate loss of life satisfaction – persists for those remaining single

  Women - loss of life satisfaction in year before and year following separation. Then recover.

  Women – mental health recovers much better than men’s.