Divorce risk factors and their variations over time in Spain

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the risk factors for marriage dissolution in Spain and their variations over time for women married between 1949 and 2006. The data are drawn from the Survey of Fertility, Family, and Values of 2006. The article analyses the transition from first marriage to marital dissolution for couples who married in two eras: the period prior to the enactment of the Divorce Law of 1981, when there were many social and legal barriers to marriage dissolution; and the period after the law went into effect, when there were far fewer barriers to marriage dissolution. The analyses were conducted using a continuous time event history analysis. The results indicated that there are similarities between Spain and other countries, such as the positive relationship between the typical features of unconventional families and marital dissolution; but that there are also certain differences, such as an increase in the importance of premarital pregnancy and/or of not having children. It is also essential to stress the declining importance of socioeconomic variables, such as education and the labour market situation for women. © 2011 Fabrizio Bernardi & Juan-Ignacio Martínez-Pastor.