La séparation conjugale affecte-t-elle l’activité professionnelle ?

Like in most developed countries, separation and divorces have been increasing for decades in France. Research carried out so far focuses on the economic consequences of marital dissolution and investigates the changes in wages and living standards. Less studies looked at the dynamic of labour supply after divorce in France. This article looks at the labour supply of men and women the two years following the separation. To get a large enough sample size, we pooled two French retrospective surveys with similar features. Using matching methods and a difference-in-difference approach, we estimate that men who get divorced experience an higher risk of unemployment and that a high proportion of women who were out of the labour force before the separation enter the labour market. However this probability to enter the labour force after the separation is negatively correlated to the number and age of children. Financial constraints are likely to play a bigger role on the participation into the labour market for separated women than for those who are still in partnership.