Does poverty affect divorce rates? The role of women’s income as moderating variable

Abstract

This study intends to investigate the effect of poverty on divorce rates and analyzes the moderating role of women’s income between the two variables. In addition, this study also explores the causality relationship among the three variables. Using panel data set of 32 provinces in Indonesia during the period 2010–2018, the fixed-effect approach of panel regression, moderated regression analysis (MRA), and the Granger test was applied as a means of data analysis. This study discovered that poverty does not have, but women’s income has a positive and significant effect on divorce rates. However, the women’s income has negative moderating effects on the poverty-to-divorce rate effects. The women’s independence among the poor potentially drives the divorce rate. The poverty rate has bidirectional causality with women’s income and divorce rates. In addition, unidirectional causality exists from divorce rates to women’s income.