Do Divorcing Couples Become Happier by Breaking Up?
40 Pages Posted: 18 Oct 2005
Date Written: September 2005
Abstract
Divorce is a leap in the dark. This paper investigates whether people who split up actually become happier. Using the British Household Panel Survey, we are able to observe an individual's level of psychological wellbeing in the years before and after divorce. Our results show that divorcing couples reap psychological gains from the dissolution of their marriages. Men and women benefit equally. The paper also studies the effects of bereavement, of having dependent children, and of remarriage. We measure wellbeing using GHQ and life-satisfaction scores.
Keywords: divorce, happiness, GHQ, life satisfaction, longitudinal data
JEL Classification: J12, I3
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles
By Andrew Clark, Paul Frijters, ...
-
Does Marriage Make People Happy, or Do Happy People Get Married?
By Alois Stutzer and Bruno S. Frey
-
Does Happiness Adapt? A Longitudinal Study of Disability with Implications for Economists and Judges
-
Happiness Adaptation to Income and to Status in an Individual Panel
By Rafael Di Tella, John P. Haisken-denew, ...
-
Happiness Adaptation to Income and to Status in an Individual Panel
By Rafael Di Tella, John De New, ...
-
Does Wage Rank Affect Employees' Wellbeing?
By Gordon D. A. Brown, Jonathan Gardner, ...
-
Heterogeneity in Reported Well-Being: Evidence from Twelve European Countries
By Andrew Clark, Fabrice Etile, ...