Work Disability and Divorce

Abstract

This chapter uses German register to study the influence of divorce on the uptake of work disability. Information on work disability is included in the register data if sick leave extends beyond 42 days of illness. Thus, our analysis focuses on long-term health issues. We compare divorced men and women over a period of 12 years, starting 7 years before they filed for a divorce and ending 4 years thereafter. As a method, we use matching techniques, which enables us to compare the divorcees with a comparable control group of people who did not divorce. We show that health declined considerably around the time of separation and file opening. Even 4 years after they filed for a divorce, the divorcees’ risk of taking work disability was strongly elevated. However, a portion of the differences in the health status of the divorcees and the control group can be attributed to selection, because the health status of the divorcees had been lower than the health status of the control group 7 years before they filed for a divorce. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the societal consequences of divorce.