Volume 45 - Article 9 | Pages 291–328  

Who moves out and who keeps the home? Short-term and medium-term mobility consequences of grey divorce in Belgium

By Zuzana Žilinčíková, Christine Schnor

Abstract

Background: Research shows that women are more likely to move out after a separation, but the evidence is largely limited to younger ages. Little is known about short-term and medium-term mobility consequences in the case of a ‘grey divorce’.

Objective: Focusing on married couples separating at ages 50 to 70, we investigate who leaves the joint home upon separation and in the years immediately following separation. Considering ex-couple characteristics, we contrast the bargaining principle, which predicts higher moving-out rates for women, and the fairness principle, which points to the opposite.

Methods: Using Belgian register and census data, we study marital couples who separated in 2002 at ages 50 to 70 after a marriage of at least 15 years’ duration. We follow them for three years and estimate their moving patterns using multinomial logistic regressions and continuous-time models that account for the lagged effect of separation.

Results: Older women have a relative advantage in keeping the home at separation and maintain this advantage in the years following the separation. This finding contrasts with prior findings concerning younger ex-couples. Exceptions are women who are significantly younger than their ex-partner, whose children remain with the father, who live at their husband’s birthplace, and who rent rather than own the home.

Conclusions: Our findings point to a principle of fairness at play in the moving-out decision among older separating couples. Nonetheless, not all women benefit from this advantage.

Contribution: We show that post-divorce moving-out patterns are different at older ages. Looking beyond the immediate moment of separation allows for firmer conclusions to be reached about whether the home is eventually kept.

Author’s Affiliation

• Zuzana Žilinčíková - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the Netherlands EMAIL
• Christine Schnor - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Stability in children’s residential arrangements and distance to nonresident parents in the 10 years after parental separation
Volume 49 - Article 12

Adult children’s union type and contact with mothers: A replication
Volume 48 - Article 23

Do tenants suffer from status syndrome? Homeownership, norms, and suicide in Belgium
Volume 46 - Article 16

Remain, leave, or return? Mothers’ location continuity after separation in Belgium
Volume 42 - Article 9

Stepfather or biological father? Education-specific pathways of postdivorce fatherhood
Volume 37 - Article 51

Does waiting pay off for couples? Partnership duration prior to household formation and union stability
Volume 33 - Article 22

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