Income Trajectories of Lone Parents After Divorce: A View with Belgian Register Data

Abstract

Lone parents, and lone mothers in particular, are a vulnerable group in our society. Divorce is undoubtedly one of the main forces in these processes as most lone parents have been divorced rather than seen their partner decease. This paper uses register data to look at post-divorce trajectories of parents after divorce. First, we describe the demographic evolution of lone parents in Flanders. We give insights in the number and composition of lone parent families after divorce and compare them with other family trajectories after marital breakup. Next, we look at income trajectories after the break-up taking post-breakup relationship histories and labour market trajectories into account.