Anne-Rigt Poortman

Women's labour market position and divorce in the Netherlands: evaluating economic interpretations of the work effect

This article studies theinfluence of womens work on the risk ofdivorce, using data from the Netherlands. Weexamine economic interpretations of the workeffect by disentangling the work effect intofive dimensions: (a) the intensity of wifeswork, (b) the status of wifes work, (c)potential labour market success, (d) relativelabour market success (vis-à-vis thehusband), and (e) the division of domesticlabour. Our results show that working womenhave a 22 percent higher risk of divorce thanwomen who do not work. Subsequently, ourfindings show that there is no significantpositive effect of womens economicoccupational status on divorce and that labourmarket opportunities have little effect. Inaddition, the influence of the division oflabour on divorce is not relative, notsymmetric, and does not extend to domesticlabour. All in all, these findings do notsupport economic interpretations of the workeffect and confirm earlier criticisms arguingthat sociological interpretations are morepromising. This line of reasoning is furtherconfirmed by our finding that the effect ofwifes work on divorce has decreased over timewhile the effect of husbands contribution todomestic work on divorce has increased.

How Work Affects Divorce The Mediating Role of Financial and Time Pressures

This study examines whether the financial and time pressures associated with spouses’ working lives play a role in the relation between work and divorce during the first years of marriage. Using retrospective data from the Netherlands, the results show that divorce is more likely when the husband works on average fewer hours and the wife more hours during the first years of marriage. Furthermore, couples facing more financial problems and those spending less time together have a higher divorce risk. The findings partly support the hypothesis that greater financial strains are responsible for the higher divorce risk when husbands work fewer hours. About 15% of the higher divorce risk of husbands working fewer hours is explained by the resulting greater financial strains. No support is found for the hypothesis that the higher divorce risk of women who work more hours is due to a decrease in marital interaction time.

The transition to parenthood and well-being: The impact of partner status and work hour transitions

Using data from the first two waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study for 338 women and 262 men, we examine the consequences of making the transition to parenthood for life satisfaction, loneliness, positive affect, negative affect, and partnership satisfaction. We extend previous work by taking transitions in partner status and work hours into account. Results show a moderate impact of becoming a parent on well-being. In so far as effects of making the transition to parenthood emerge, they are attributable to changes in partner status and work hours. First, the decrease in negative affect upon making the transition to motherhood is attributable to the group of women who increase their working hours. Second, the detrimental impact of making the transition to motherhood on partnership satisfaction is attributable to the group of new mothers who quit their job. Third, the detrimental impact of making the transition to fatherhood on loneliness is attributable to the group of new fathers who become married. There is one exception to this pattern of partner status and work hours as mechanisms for changes in well-being. Men who become fathers remain less satisfied with their partnership, even when transitions in partner status and work hours have been taken into account. In the discussion-section, we consider the possible underestimation of negative effects because of the focus on the continuously partnered. We also reflect on our results in the light of the high incidence of part-time work in the Netherlands and Dutch policies aimed at supporting new parents.

Contact Between Grandchildren and Their Grandparents in Early Adulthood

Using cross-sectional data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,231), this study examines the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents across early adulthood. Age is used as a proxy for change during the grandchilds life course and the influence of major life course characteristics is examined. Results indicate that the majority of young adult grandchildren have contact with their grandparents, but the average frequency is low. Age differences in contact frequency suggest a decline in grandparent-grandchild contact across early adulthood. Multilevel analyses show that grandchildrens employment status, partner, and parenthood status do not affect contact frequency with grandparents. Rather, the results point at the importance of the parental home for facilitating grandparent-grandchild contact as age-related differences are accounted for by whether grandchildren left the parental home. Furthermore, most of the variance in grandparent-grandchild contact is attributable to differences between family of the mothers and family of the fathers side.

Parental Divorce and Sibling Relationships: A Research Note

This study examines long-term effects of parental divorce on sibling relationships in adulthood and the role of predivorce parental conflict. It used large-scale retrospective data from the Netherlands that contain reports from both siblings of the sibling dyad. Results show limited effects of parental divorce on sibling contact and relationship quality in adulthood but strong effects on sibling conflict. The greater conflict among siblings from divorced families is explained by the greater parental conflict in these families. Parental conflict is a far more important predictor than parental divorce per se. Siblings from high-conflict families have less contact, lower relationship quality, and more conflict than do siblings from low-conflict families. Finally, when it comes to sibling relationship quality, the effect of parental divorce depends on the amount of parental conflict. Parental divorce has little effect on the quality of the relationship in low-conflict families, but it improves the relationship in high-conflict families.

Why do intimate partners live apart? Evidence on LAT relationships across Europe

BACKGROUND Most research asks whether or not cohabitation has come to rival marriage. Little is known about the meaning of living apart together (LAT) relationships, and whether LAT is an alternative to marriage and cohabitation or a dating relationship. OBJECTIVE We examine across Europe: (1) the prevalence of LAT, (2) the reasons for LAT, and (3) the correlates of (a) LAT relationships vis-à-vis being single, married, or cohabiting, and (b) different types of LAT union. METHODS Using Generations and Gender Survey data from ten Western and Eastern European countries, we present descriptive statistics about LATs and estimate multinominal logistic regression models to assess the correlates of being in different types of LAT unions. RESULTS LAT relationships are uncommon, but they are more common in Western than Eastern Europe. Most people in LAT unions intend to live together but are apart for practical reasons. LAT is more common among young people, those enrolled in higher education, people with liberal attitudes, highly educated people, and those who have previously cohabited or been married. Older people and divorced or widowed persons are more likely to choose LAT to maintain independence. Surprisingly, attitudinal and educational differences are more pronounced in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe. CONCLUSIONS A tentative conclusion is that LAT is more often a stage in the union formation process than an alternative to marriage and cohabitation. Yet some groups do view LAT as substituting for marriage and cohabitation, and these groups differ between East and West. In Eastern Europe a cultural, highly educated elite seems to be the first to resist traditional marriage norms and embrace LAT (and cohabitation) as alternative living arrangements, whereas this is less the case in Western Europe. In Western Europe, LAT unions are mainly an alternative for persons who have been married before or had children in a prior relationship.

Marriage and separation risks among German cohabiters: Differences between types of cohabiter

We propose a typology of different meanings of cohabitation that combines cohabiters’ intentions to marry with a general attitude toward marriage, using competing risk analyses to examine whether some cohabiters are more prone than others to marry or to separate. Using data (N = 1,258) from four waves of the German Family Panel (PAIRFAM) and a supplementary study (DEMODIFF), we compared eastern and western German cohabiters of the birth cohorts 1971–73 and 1981–83. Western Germans more frequently view cohabitation as a step in the marriage process, whereas eastern Germans more often cohabit as an alternative to marriage. Taking into account marital attitudes reveals that cohabiters without marriage plans differ from those with plans in their relationship careers, and also shows that cohabiters who plan to marry despite holding a less favourable view of marriage are less likely to realize their plans than cohabiters whose intentions and attitudes are more congruent.

Family and Friends: Which Types of Personal Relationships Go Together in a Network?

We examine the link between family and personal networks. Using arguments about meeting opportunities, competition and social influence, we hypothesise how the presence of specific types of family members (i.e., a partner, children, parents and siblings) and non-family members (i.e., friends, neighbours and colleagues) in the network mutually affect one another. In addition, we propose that—beyond their mere presence—the active role of family members in the network strongly affects the presence of non-family members in the network. Data from the third wave of the Survey on the Social Networks of the Dutch, collected in 2012 and 2013, show that active involvement is of key importance; more than merely having family members present in one’s personal network, the active involvement of specific types of family members in the personal network is associated with having disproportionally more other family members and having somewhat fewer non-family members in the network.

Partners in crime? De invloed van crimineel gedrag op huwelijkskansen en partnerselectie

Summary: Partners in crime? The impact of criminal behaviour on marriage formation and partner selection. Although it is well established that marriage has the potential to foster desistance from crime, little attention has been paid to offenders’ marital chances. The few studies examining the effects of criminal behaviour on marriage formation, have not taken into account the criminal behaviour of spouses. We employ data from the Criminal Career and Life-Course Study (N = 4,615) to examine the marital and criminal careers of both offenders and their marriage partners far into adulthood. The results show that a criminal history is strongly related to outcomes in the marriage market. The higher the number of offenses, the lower the odds of marrying and the higher the odds of marrying a criminal partner.