Abstract

This study investigates how and to what extent the socio-economic positions of husbands and wives play a role in the decision of who moves out from the family home: only the man, only the woman, or both. We expected the partner with more financial power, knowledge and skills to have a greater chance to claim and maintain the family home. The analyses are based on the survey ‘Divorce in Flanders’ (N = 3.039) and the ‘General Socio-Economic Survey 2001’ linked to national register data for the period 2001-2006 (N = 61.573). The results show that, in general, women more often leave the family home than men. However, in line with the proposed hypothesis, the woman is more likely to stay in the family home if she is older, higher educated and if she is the only person employed in the household. There are also several gender specific results. Women seem to benefit more from an educational advantaged position than men do. The man is more likely to leave the family home when both partners share the same high level of education. The negative repercussions of a divorce – which are often also higher among women – might stimulate highly educated women more than men to claim the family home.

How to Cite:

Theunis, L., Willaert, D. & Van Bavel, J., (2017) “Wie verlaat de gezinswoning bij een echtscheiding?: het belang van de socio-economische positie van partners”, Sociologos 38(3), 221–247. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86947