Divorce and mobility: Who moves from the family home after separation?

Clara H. Mulder and Michael WagnerUniversities of Amsterdam, Cologne

Research aim

Explain who leaves the joint home upon separation: the man, the woman, or both

Previous research: Not that much. Some studies for Germany, Denmark, U.K. (see paper)

Theory: starting points

Assumption 1: decision to separate implies at least one partner leaves and is followed by a decision (of one partner or of the couple) about who leaves

Assumption 2: staying is generally preferred over moving out (inertia; stress of moving; disruption of housing career)

Staying leads to increased housing cost

Situations

One partner makes a one-sided decision → that partner moves out

A partner cannot afford to stay → that partner moves out (could be both)

All other cases: joint decision

How to reach a decision

Power: Who is in a better position Who has lower costs or who gains more from moving

out:- Fairness rule- Greater inclination to move

Hypotheses

Resources

Affording to stay: greater absolute resources (income, education): smaller likelihood of moving

Affording to stay and power: greater relative resources (income difference, difference in level of education, age difference): smaller likelihood of moving

Costs of moving (1)

Higher if location-specific capital is greater:(and (P): more power)

Individual ownership of the home (P) One partner lived in the home, other moved in (P) Local ties: presence of parent(s) in municipality of

residence Local ties: long history of residence

Costs of moving (2)

Higher for the partner who has invested more in the partnership

Mostly the woman; asymmetry more salient with greater investments (long duration of partnership, children)

Costs of moving (3)

Higher for the partner who gets custody of the children

Lower if greater interest in the separation (initiative mainly one partner). Also greater likelihood of one-sided decision

Gains from moving

Greater if new partner. Also greater likelihood of one-sided decision

Data set 1 Divorce in the Netherlands 1998 (Scheiding in

Nederland or SIN)

Selection of those respondents who divorced or separated between 1975 and 1998 and who answered the question who of the partners left the joint home (N=1732)

Data set 2 Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS), main

sample, Waves 1 (2003) and 2 (2007) Sample a: Those two-sex couples who

separated between Waves 1 and 2 (N = 174) Sample b: Those who had separated recently

before Wave 1 (N = 186)

Methods

Couple analysis: who moves out crosstabs male / female / both Multinomial logit model Data: SIN and NKPS Sample a

Individual analysis: does respondent move logit models all, male respondents, female

respondents, test for difference Data: (SIN and) NKPS Samples a + b

Results: Relative resources

Income: Man tends to move out if woman earns more

Education: both tend to move out if both highly educated (unexpected); otherwise no significant differences

Age difference: If man older, woman tends to move out and vice versa

Results: who moves out

Man moves out more frequently

All else equal: woman is more likely to move out

Minority of cases: both move out

Results: Absolute resources

No signs that those with few resources move out more frequently (rather the opposite)

Results: Location-specific capital (1)

Individual homeownership (chisq = 20.45, df = 6, p = 0.002)

 Male

leavesFemale leaves Both leave N unweighted

No 35.6 57.5 6.8 66

Both 51.2 40.5 8.3 89

Man only 7.7 92.3 0.0 12

Woman only 100.0 0.0 0.0 7

Results: Location-specific capital (2)

Other partner moved in: strong negative effect on moving out

Parents live close: marked negative effect for women

Same municipality as age 15: marked negative effect

Results: other costs of moving (1)

Difference in investments. Longer duration of partnership: woman less likely to move out

Results: other costs of moving (2)Children with whom after separation (chisq = 168.30, df = 8, p = 0.000)

  Male leavesFemale leaves Both leave N unweighted

No joint children / elsewhere 37.7 56.6 5.7 503

All with male 18.2 80.8 1.0 99

All with female 67.2 30.3 2.5 757

Divided or co-parents 37.5 58.0 4.5 95

Not with parents 55.6 41.8 2.6 199

Results: other costs of moving (3)

Separation was whose initative (chisq = 151.88, df = 4, p = 0.000)

  Male leaves Female leaves Both leave N unweighted

Both 54.9 39.0 6.0 179

Male 72.3 24.8 2.9 445

Female 40.3 56.3 3.4 1029

Total 167.5 120.1 12.3 1653

Results: Gains of moving

New partner: greater likelihood of moving out for both men and women

Conclusions (1) Resources → Support for relative resources, no support

for absolute resources

Costs of moving: location specific capital → Support

Costs of moving: asymmetry of investments in partnership (woman invests more) → Support

Costs and gains of moving: custody of children, interest in separation, new partner → Support

Overall picture: fairness / justice / entitlement seems important

Conclusions (2)

Gender differences:

Men move out more frequently, but not conditionally on individual and couple characteristics

Individual home-ownership and partner moving in: less frequent for women

Child custody: more frequently women

Initiative to separate: more frequently women