Separation: Consequences for Wealth in Later Life

Abstract

Over the course of their lives, a substantial minority of elderly European men and women have experienced the dissolution of one or more partner relationships through divorce or the ending of cohabitation. So far, most research into the economic consequences of (marital) separation has been based on panel data and consequently focuses on the short or middle term for the current generations of respondents in their “adult” years. This chapter makes a start at improving existing knowledge by studying the economic consequences of (marital) separation, looking at this issue “from the other way around”. Using retrospective SHARELIFE-data, we explore how wealth in later life – measured in terms of home-ownership and the possession of other financial assets – is influenced by the relationship trajectories of European men and women. Given the complexity of the issue at hand, in this chapter we focus on the first marital separation. As for the variation between European countries in terms of the institutional arrangements influencing the short and long-term consequences of (marital) separation, we furthermore sketch the contours of a conceptual framework that can be used for a more in-depth study.