Zeitschriftenartikel
Gender norms and partnership dissolution following involuntary job loss in Germany
Abstract
Job loss is an involuntary, disruptive life event with adverse effects on a person’s health, finances, and family outcomes. Previous research on the link between job loss and union dissolution has revealed gender-specific patterns. Existing gender norms may also moderate the relationship between job loss and separation risk. The life course theory suggests that men socialised in a stronger male-breadwinner norms regime would have a higher risk of union dissolution following job loss than men socialised in a weaker male-breadwinner norms regime. Also, men with egalitarian gender roles who contribute time equally to family needs alongside their partners have higher relationship satisfaction. We study the impact of involuntary job loss due to plant closures and dismissals on marital dissolution (divorce or separation) using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (1984–2019) by employing event study analyses. We further analyse how regional gender norms (proxied by men residing in East vs. West Germany in 1989) and individual-level gender role attitudes for men, as reflected in their share of home production activities in the couple over the years, moderate this relationship. We find that the risk of union dissolution increases by 1.8 ppts (a 180% increase in relative terms) in the year of job loss for the treatment group compared to the control group, likely driven by couples in unstable relationships, for whom the stress caused by job loss is the decisive factor leading to a dissolution. This effect is mediated by males’ share in home production activities over the years and household income in the year of job loss, which is consistent with the economic hardship mechanism. There are no moderation effects by regional gender norms or gender role attitudes for the increased risk of union dissolution following job loss. The absence of significant moderation by regional gender norms—contrary to predictions from life course theory and gender identity theory—may reflect that the stigma of divorce is greater in West Germany, with stronger male-breadwinner norms, and the convergence of gender norms across East and West Germany in the decades since reunification.
Schlagwörter: Deutschland, employment, end of union, gender, social norms