Socio-economic determinants of divorce in Lithuania Evidence from register-based census-linked data

• Published in: Demographic research Vol. 33; pp. 871 - 908
• Main Authors: Maslauskaite, Ausra, Jasilioniene, Aiva, Jasilionis, Domantas, Stankuniene, Vlada, Shkolnikov, Vladimir M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rostock Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research 01.07.2015; Max Planck Institut für Demografische Forschung
• Subjects: Adult education; Censuses; Cities; Datasets; Divorce; Divorce rates; Economic activity; Economic aspects; Economic models; education; Gender; Gender roles; Linked Data; Marital stability; Modernization; Population; Research Article; Rural areas; Social aspects; Social classes; Society; socio-economic determinants; Socioeconomics; Studies; Unemployment; Women; Womens studies; Lithuania
• ISSN: 1435-9871; 1435-9871; 2363-7064
• DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2015.33.30

The study explores how the levels of educational attainment and economic activity, as well as the interactions of these two variables, influence the risk of first divorce both in the entire population of Lithuania and in its urban and rural sub-populations. The study uses a census-linked dataset connecting all records from the 2001 census and all first divorce records between the census and December 2003. The impact of education and employment status on the risk of divorce was estimated by applying Poisson regression models. Lower education is related to elevated risks of divorce only in large cities: in rural areas the relationship is inverted. For both urban and rural males, being out of the labor market destabilizes marriage and significantly increases the risk of marital disruption. This pattern was also found for males residing in large cities. As expected, a lower divorce risk is observed among both urban and rural housewives and other inactive urban females. Unemployment and disability-related inactivity is associated with higher divorce probabilities among rural females.