Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Social Support and Emotional Hardship Following Divorce: Long and Short-term Differences by Gender

Sat, August 11, 10:30 to 11:30am, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Floor: Level 5, Salon G

Abstract

Studies have documented the detrimental consequences of divorce on parents' economic and emotional wellbeing. The economic deterioration following divorce is a constant stressor in divorced parents' lives, and may have a detrimental effect on their emotional wellbeing in both the short and long term. In this study we develop a measure of financial worries about the future, which we term "emotional hardship" and we argue that it may shed light on our understanding of the mechanism that links parents' economic and emotional wellbeing following divorce. We also ask how social capital, measured as social support, plays into this relationship, whether it reduces economic worries about the future, and whether these effects differ by gender.
The study draws on Israel’s 2013 Social Survey, conducted by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. The sample is limited to ever-married Jewish men and women (n=5618). Arabs and Ultra-orthodox Jews were excluded because divorce is rare in these communities.
Preliminary findings show that divorced men and women experience more financial worries about the future than their married counterparts, even after controlling for income. Having someone to rely on financially reduces worries about the future, but having emotional social support has no such effect. This study reveals the emotional vulnerabilities men and women face following divorce, especially in the long term. The next stage in the analyses will be to add tests for interaction effects and possibly to develop additional dependent variables that indicate emotional hardship.

Authors