Parental Life Courses after Separation and Divorce in Europe (Life Course Research and Social Policies Book 12)

This open access book assembles landmark studies on divorce and separation in European countries, and how this affects the life of parents and children. It focuses on four major areas of post-separation lives, namely (1) economic conditions, (2) parent-child relationships, (3) parent and child well-being, and (4) health. Through studies from several European countries, the book showcases how legal regulations and social policies influence parental and child well-being after divorce and separation. It also illustrates how social policies are interwoven with the normative fabric of a country. For example, it is shown that father-child contact after separation is more intense in those countries which have adopted policies that encourage shared parenting. Correspondingly, countries that have adopted these regulations are at the forefront of more egalitarian gender role attitudes. Apart from a strong emphasis on the legal and social policy context, the studies in this volume adopt a longitudinal perspective and situate post-separation behaviour and well-being in the life course. The longitudinal perspective opens up new avenues for research to understand how behaviour and conditions prior or at divorce and separation affect later behaviour and well-being. As such this book is of special appeal to scholars of family research as well as to anyone interested in the role of divorce and separation in Europe in the 21st century.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-x Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction: Parental Life Courses After Separation and Divorce in Europe (Michaela Kreyenfeld, Heike Trappe)....Pages 3-21 Economic Consequences of Divorce: A Review (Dimitri Mortelmans)....Pages 23-41 Earnings Trajectories Following Parental Separation Among First-Time Parents in Sweden (Anna-Karin Nylin)....Pages 43-64 Changes in Mothers’ Earnings Around the Time of Divorce (Anke Radenacker)....Pages 65-81 Parents Returning to Parents: Does Migration Background Have an Influence on the “Boomerang Effect” Among Parents After Divorce? (Dimitri Mortelmans, Gert Thielemans, Layla Van den Berg)....Pages 83-102 Front Matter ....Pages 103-103 Will Separations Lead to More or Less Gender-Equal Parenthood? Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parental Leave Use in Sweden (Ann-Zofie Duvander, Nicklas Korsell)....Pages 105-129 Divorce, Emotions, and Legal Regulations: Shared Parenting in a Climate of Fear (Elena Moore)....Pages 131-147 The Consequences of Separation for Mothers’ Perception of Their Parenting Capacity (Tina Haux, Lucinda Platt)....Pages 149-168 The Role of Gatekeeping in Non-Resident Fathers’ Contact with Their Children: Mothers’ and Fathers’ Views (Sabine Walper, Stefanie Amberg, Carolin Thönnissen, Sharon L. Christ)....Pages 169-191 Front Matter ....Pages 193-193 Loneliness in Children Adapting to Dual Family Life (Inge Pasteels, Kim Bastaits)....Pages 195-213 Paternal Psychological Well-being After Union Dissolution: Does Involved Fatherhood Have a Protective Effect? (Aušra Maslauskaitė, Anja Steinbach)....Pages 215-234 Gender Differences in Parental Well-being After Separation: Does Shared Parenting Matter? (Katja Köppen, Michaela Kreyenfeld, Heike Trappe)....Pages 235-264 Front Matter ....Pages 265-265 Heterogeneous Effects of Family Complexity in Childhood on Mental Health: Testing the “Good Divorce” and the “Good Stepparent” Hypotheses (Katya Ivanova, Matthijs Kalmijn)....Pages 267-288 Work Disability and Divorce (Daniel Brüggmann)....Pages 289-308 Part I: Economic Conditions of Divorce and Separation: Chapter 1. Introduction: Parental Life Courses after Separation and Divorce in Europe -- Chapter 2. Economic Consequences of Divorce: A Review -- Chapter 3. Earnings Trajectories Following Parental Separation among First-Time Parents in Sweden -- Chapter 4. Changes in Mothers' Earnings around the Time of Divorce -- Chapter 5. Parents Returning to Parents: Does Migration Background Have an Influence on the "Boomerang Effect" among Parents after Divorce? -- Part II: Parent-Child Relationships: Chapter 6. Will Separations Lead to More or Less Gender-Equal Parenthood? Mothers' and Fathers' Parental Leave Use in Sweden -- Chapter 7. Divorce, Emotions and Legal Regulations: Shared Parenting in a Climate of Fear -- Chapter 8. The Consequences of Separation for Mothers' Perception of their Parenting Capacity -- Chapter 9. The Role of Gatekeeping in Non-Resident Fathers' Contact with their Children: Mothers' and Fathers' Views -- Part III: Parent and Child Well-being -- Chapter 10. Loneliness in Children Adapting to Dual Family Life -- Chapter 11. Paternal Psychological Well-being after Union Dissolution: Does Involved Fatherhood have a Protective Effect? -- Chapter 12. Gender Differences in Parental Well-being after Separation: Does Shared Parenting Matter? -- Part IV: Health-related Consequences of Divorce and Separation -- Chapter 13. Heterogeneous Effects of Family Complexity in Childhood on Mental Health: Testing the "Good Divorce" and the "Good Stepparent" Hypotheses -- Chapter 14. Work Disability and Divorce