“Til Retirement Do Us Part”? The Divorce Risk of Seniors in France

Giulia Ferrari , Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Anne Solaz, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

The share of divorces taking place at older ages, called “gray divorces” or “silver splitters” has recently increased significantly. This increase is partly due to the huge size of the birth cohort of baby boomers, but also to a steadily increase in divorce risks at older ages. Why does divorce occur more at these ages? We investigate how retirement plays a role. Retirement might be a particular period for couple stability as it may affect financial resources, gender norms -in particular if the husband is the first who retires- and other life domains. Using a recently available administrative database and panel regression methods, our preliminary findings show almost no significant effect for man's retirement but a positive but lagged correlation between woman's retirement and divorce, especially when she retired first. It suggests that the transition from work to retirement represents a key turning point for the couple's stability.

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 Presented in Session 90. Union Dissolution