Traditional Lifestyles Protect Against Parental Divorce: Effects of Religion, Ethnicity, Rurality and Mother's Employment in Australia in the 20th Century

International Journal of Sociology of the Family, Forthcoming

29 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2009

See all articles by M. D. R. Evans

M. D. R. Evans

University of Nevada, Reno - Departments of Resource Economics and Sociology

Jonathan Kelley

International Survey Center; University of Nevada Reno - Department of Sociology

Date Written: January 16, 2009

Abstract

This paper examines the sources of parental divorce in Australia using respondents' retrospective reports of their parents' behavior, which allows us to look back as far as the early years of the 20th century. The data are from a pooled series of representative national samples of Australia conducted between 1984 and 2002 (N=19,601 valid cases for this analysis), which we analyze using probit regression models. Replicating prior research, we find that rural parents and Mediterranean immigrant parents have more stable marriages. Taking into account further traditionalism measures - church attendance and maternal employment - substantially expands our knowledge and changes our understanding of the already established effects. Parents who are faithful church-goers have much more stable marriages, even net of many other influences. By contrast, religious denomination does not have significant effects, nor do education, occupation, or income. Maternal employment increases the risk of divorce. It also reduces the previously established rurality effect to insignificance, suggesting that it merely reflects lower maternal employment in the countryside. By contrast, the protective effect of Mediterranean origins is actually amplified after adjustment for maternal employment. The effect of maternal employment declined strongly over time, with important implications for understanding the causal direction of the relationship. Even after taking our expanded range of influences into account, there are still substantial effects unmeasured variables represented by a time trend toward increasing divorce.

Keywords: divorce, traditional lifestyles, Australia, woman's labor force participation

JEL Classification: J12, Z10

Suggested Citation

Evans, Mariah and Kelley, Jonathan, Traditional Lifestyles Protect Against Parental Divorce: Effects of Religion, Ethnicity, Rurality and Mother's Employment in Australia in the 20th Century (January 16, 2009). International Journal of Sociology of the Family, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1328744

Mariah Evans (Contact Author)

University of Nevada, Reno - Departments of Resource Economics and Sociology ( email )

1664 N. Virginia St
Reno, NV 89557
United States

Jonathan Kelley

International Survey Center ( email )

18124 Wedge Parkway #1035
Reno, NV 89511
United States
415 315 9806 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.international-survey.org

University of Nevada Reno - Department of Sociology ( email )

United States

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