Een nieuwe partner na een echtscheiding?: opleidingsverschillen bij mannen en vrouwen in Vlaanderen

Abstract

This article looks at the likelihood to start a new steady partnership after the disso¬ lution of a first marriage. We hypothesize that the educational level might influence the need for a new partner, the attractiveness on the (re)partner market and the opportunities to meet new partners. Using data of the ‘Divorce in Flanders’-survey, we estimate discrete-time event history models, separately for men and women. For divorcees from 1981 to 2005 (from marriage cohorts since 1971), we find that lower educated men have a lower risk of repartnering than higher educated men. Among women, the likelihood to repartner only depends on their educational level for those separated in the 1990s. For women, their age at the separation, the pres¬ ence of children and the age of the youngest child are crucial determinants. Labour market participation does not affect the repartnering risk, for men nor for women.