‘More work is divorce insurance for women’

If we, the adults, cannot cope with divorce, how can we expect our children to?

If we, the adults, cannot cope with divorce, how can we expect our children to?

Published Nov 20, 2012

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London - Women whose marriages are at risk of collapse work more hours as an insurance against divorce, a study has found.

For every one percent increase in the chances of marital breakdown, they put in an extra 12 minutes per week, researchers said.

They arrived at the figures after examining changes in working behaviour in Ireland following the legalisation of divorce in 1996.

Between 1994 and 2001, the divorce rate in the country soared by 152 percent. The study found that in this same period non-religious married women increased how much they worked by around 18 percent.

Researchers from the London School of Economics said this equated to an extra 12 minutes per week for every percentage point rise on the divorce rate.

In general there was a 14 percent increase in the number of women in employment.

Dr Berkay Ozcan, of the LSE, said the study found that women’s increased work outside the home was not compensated by either a decrease in domestic time spent on childcare or an increase in child-rearing by fathers.

“Faced with a rising probability of divorce, women work more, whether they ultimately separate or not,” said Dr Ozcan.

There was no strong evidence that men worked longer with the increased risk of divorce, the study, published in the European Economic Review, found. - Daily Mail

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