Divorce
Title
Divorce
Author
Härkönen, Juho
Research Area
Social Institutions
Topic
Marriage and the Family
Abstract
There is by now a large literature on divorce which seeks to understand the underlying reasons behind trends in divorce rates and establish the predictors of divorce as well as its consequences for adults and children. Early research examined divorce over time and across societies, and developed conceptual models to understand which factors affect partners' decisions to divorce. Recent cutting edge research has expanded on this literature and examined the multiple causes and consequences of divorce, heterogeneity in causes and effects, and the role of new demographic trends such as the increase in cohabitation. Future advances can build on (i) the use of new data, cutting edge methods, and cross‐fertilization across disciplines, (ii) continued focus on emerging demographic realities, (iii) heterogeneity of divorces and their consequences, (iv) the mechanisms and processes that predict divorce and can help in understanding its effects, and (v) focus on cross‐national differences and societal contexts.