Impact of separation and divorce on professional activity in France

Elisabeth Algava, Ministère de la Santé et de la Protection Sociale
Carole Bonnet, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Anne Solaz, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of separation (mainly divorce, ceasing to live together) on French women and men’s labour force participation (periods out of work, unemployment). Indeed, some French researchers study the effect of people’s employment positions on separations, but very few analyse the effect of separation on employment. We also want to study the timing of this impact : the year following the separation, later on or does the employment status change occur before the separation ? Three French household surveys are used. They include information on personal histories. We observe great changes in labour market participation after a separation. Half of the women who were out of the labour market before separation join the labour force after; for men, unemployment seems to be more frequent after separation than before. We focus lastly on the characteristics of individuals with different patterns in their employment trajectories.