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Characteristics of post-separation families in the Netherlands: shared residence versus resident mother arrangements

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Abstract

Besides the traditional post-separation residential arrangement in which the children live with the mother and have regular contact with the father, new arrangements have emerged and become more widespread in which parents strive for a more equal division of tasks. We used an explanatory mixed methods research design to enhance insight into the life course characteristics of separated parents involved in shared residence arrangements. Survey data derived from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS) and Divorce in the Netherlands 1998 were supplemented with information from in-depth interviews with NKPS respondents. We found that shared residence parents seem to be a typical modern category of separated parents with a specific set of characteristics. The distance between the residences of the ex-partners plays a crucial role in maintaining a shared residence arrangement. Highly educated, dual-career ex-couples, and those with high incomes are also more likely to be involved in a shared residence arrangement. Shared residence arrangements were more likely when the woman had a new partner, but less likely when the man had a new partner. Our findings on gender differences are in line with the idea that involvement in non-traditional residential arrangements is a sign of increased paternal involvement, but decreased maternal involvement, compared with the traditional arrangements.

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Notes

  1. In the Netherlands, each year 95,000 couples (2.4 % of all couples) experience the dissolution of their marriage or cohabiting union (Spruijt and Kormos 2010). In general, one should be cautious taking these two groups together. Recent studies on the Dutch case, however, show that the impact of union dissolution on couples with children does not differ substantially between married and unmarried couples (Spruijt 2007). We therefore combine the two groups and use the term separated to refer to couples who experienced a non-marital dissolution as well as to couples who experienced a legal divorce.

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Acknowledgments

The research for this paper was made possible by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) [grant number 400-07-149]. The Netherlands Kinship Panel Study is funded by the Major Investments Fund of NWO [grant number 480-10-009]; the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute; Utrecht University; University of Amsterdam; and Tilburg University. The Divorce in the Netherlands 1998 dataset is deposited with DANS- Easy Archiving System [urn:nbn:nl:ui:13-mfg-m73].

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  1. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Wilma Bakker

  2. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Clara H. Mulder

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Bakker, W., Mulder, C.H. Characteristics of post-separation families in the Netherlands: shared residence versus resident mother arrangements. GeoJournal 78, 851–866 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-012-9470-x

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