The socioeconomic determinants of repartnering after divorce or separation in Belgium

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe increasing prevalence of higher-order unions is one of the major changes in familylife in recent decades.OBJECTIVEBy using register data, we aim to give a unique view on how income components -amount and composition - influence the likelihood of repartnering after divorce orseparation in Belgium.METHODSWe analyse a sample of 46,648 broken marriages and 67,053 separated cohabitationsfrom the Belgian Data Warehouse Labour Market and Social Protection database, usingdiscrete-time event history models.RESULTSThe chances of men repartnering increase in higher income quintiles. Women in lowerincome quintiles are more likely to repartner, while women in higher income groups areless likely to repartner. These patterns have been found to hold regardless of the type ofprevious union. Furthermore, divorcees are more likely to repartner than formercohabiters are. The type of previous relationship hardly influences the impact of theamount of income on repartnering dynamics. As for the composition of income, beingdivorced decreases repartnering chances in cases of irregular labour, irrespective ofgender. Women who are in work are more likely to repartner if they are divorced ratherthan separated, while men receiving unemployment benefits and integration income aremore likely to repartner if they are divorced.CONCLUSIONSRepartnering is evolving to a two-tier system, with a wide discrepancy between lowest and highest income groups. Type of previous relationship makes hardly any differenceto the impact of the amount of income on repartnering dynamics, but partially drives theimpact of the composition of income.