Publications
Publications
Embedded Files
Cimelli, L., Bonnet, C. & Solaz, A. Do late-life divorces produce greater gender inequalities? Evidence from administrative data. J Econ Inequal (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-024-09665-2
Though the number of divorces has stabilized in several European countries at prime age, it continues to increase at older ages. Drawing upon a large French administrative database, the Echantillon Démographique Permanent (Permanent Demographic Sample), a panel study that follows 4.4% of the French population every year, this paper presents new findings on the economic consequences of grey divorces, occurring at age 50 and over and their mechanisms. We implement a two-way fixed- effect regression with a control group to assess the causal effects of divorce on men and women. To do so, we compare divorced individuals with people that will divorce but have not done so yet. The results confirm that the decrease in living standards is larger, on average, for women than for men. For women, this decrease is larger when divorce occurs after 50 (26% one year after the divorce) than before (20%). Thus, grey divorce increases gender inequalities following break-ups. Public and private trans- fers mitigate post-grey divorce gender inequalities, especially for the poorest women. Recovery through re-partnering plays an important role in moderating the negative consequences of divorce.
Previous version: INED working paper n°292
Working Papers
Working Papers
"Living Standards After Widowhood: Exploring Survivor’s Pensions’ Protection Against Income Decline" - R&R Population
This paper examines the impact of widowhood on living standards and the compensatory role of survivor's pensions in France. Using data from the Échantillon Démographique Permanent (EDP) and a staggered difference-in-differences methodology, we assess how living standards vary upon widowhood, how survivor's pensions mitigate income changes, incorporating nuanced analyses with different equivalence scales. Widowhood leads to increased living standards for both men and women, though men benefit more (+24.6% vs. +5.7%). For women, this finding depends on the assumption of residential mobility. Survivor's pensions play a critical role in supporting secondary earners in unequal-income households (being men or women) and contribute to living standards stability in egalitarian couples. However, inefficiencies arise for primary earners who already gain post-widowhood because of consumption unit effects. By providing a deeper understanding of the variation in living standards upon widowhood, this paper critically examines the contemporary objective of survivor’s pensions to smooth living standards around the death of a spouse.
Previous version: INED working paper n°279
"The long-term impact of extended parental leave on labour market participation, fertility and mental health" with Emilie Courtin, Constance Beaufils and Emmanuelle Cambois
We assess the effects of long parental leave on women’s long-term labour market participation, fertility, and mental health. We exploit the 1994 extension of a 3-year paid parental leave scheme from parents of three children to parents of two children. We use a regression discontinuity design and data from the CONSTANCES cohort linked to administrative records on retirement contributions.
We find that the 1994 reform increased take-up among mothers of two children. It reduced women’s labour market participation in the three years following their second birth. However, we find no detectable long-term impact of the policy on women’s overall labour market participation, total fertility, or mental health.
This finding diverges from the previous causal literature showing that short paid parental leave policies have positive long-term effects on women’s mental health. Our results suggest that extended paid leave might not have a protective effect on mental health.
"Association between extended childcare leave and later life depressive symptoms: Evidence from the French CONSTANCES cohort " with Constance Beaufils, Emilie Courtin, Emmanuelle Cambois and Emmanuel Wiernik
We examine the life-long drivers of the female disadvantage in depressive symptoms. Using a large epidemiological cohort matched with administrative data, we use a multivariate regression approach that examines the relationship between past parental leave uptake and later-life depressive symptoms, adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic variables. A strong selection into parental leave on social characteristics is identified. Taking it into account, mothers who took parental leave report significantly higher depressive symptoms in later life compared to non-recipients. Among mothers who took the leave, no clear duration effect was identified.
"Economic consequences of late-life divorce, A comparison between France and Sweden", with Carole Bonnet, Ann-Zofie Duvander, Linda Kridahl, Sofi Ohlsson-Wijk and Anne Solaz
Divorce in later life is increasing in European countries. We are interested in the economic consequences of such divorces. Compared to younger individuals, older individuals have less possibilities to use recovery mechanisms, and therefore the consequences are more likely to be affected by in which welfare state they occur. The consequences are also likely to differ for women and men who have dissimilar life course trajectories and therefore different economic gains from living in a union. We compare the economic consequences of divorce by gender in two welfare states, France and Sweden. We use high quality and large administrative data which we harmonize, to be able to compare the consequences in the two countries. The preliminary results show that some patterns are similar in the two countries, such as the larger decline in adjusted disposable income for women than men. Some patterns are different with larger consequences for older individuals relative to younger in Sweden, that may raise specific issues regarding this group of population. We find a general pattern that the ones with highest living standard are most negatively affected by divorce but still have a higher adjusted disposable income after divorce.
"Late divorce and delayed retirement: Change in labor supply upon grey divorce"
This article assesses the impact of grey divorce on the retirement behaviors of men and women in France. Divorce is an economic shock affecting individuals' income and wealth. Changing one’s labor supply is a coping strategy that divorcees can exploit to contain the impact of divorce. The increasing number of grey divorces, divorces occurring after the age 50, raises the specific issue of adapting of labor supply on the extensive margin for older workers, especially through postponing retirement. Using a new method allowing the implementation of a difference-in-differences strategy with staggered treatment on a French administrative panel data-set (Permanent Demographic Sample), the paper shows that grey divorce pushes women and men to delay their final exit from the labor market. That effect is stronger for women than men, but such an effect for the latter is new to the literature.
"Postponing retirement age: Are people with health issues more at risk to be ‘Neither employed nor retired’ ? Evidence from France" with Mira Rahal
Selected work in progress
Selected work in progress
"De-accumulation, bequeath: how to explain gendered wealth trajectories after a spouse's death in the Netherlands?", with Carole Bonnet - Stage: empirical analysis
"Long-run effects of reducing early school tracking on midlife health: Evidence from the Haby reform", with Emilie Courtin and Serena Canaan - Stage: empirical analysis
PhD Dissertation
PhD Dissertation
Supervisors: Carole Bonnet and Anne Solaz
Thesis commitee: Muriel Roger, Mathieu Lefebvre, Cécile Bourreau-Dubois, Bertrand Garbinti and Clément Carbonnier
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