Dating can be challenging terrain for anyone. For single mothers, though, finding a new partner is particularly complicated. It requires time, energy and attention, and it must compete with childcare for all of them. In some cases, an ex-partner can add an extra layer of complexity to the repartnering process  — at least if the ex-partner is a highly-involved father.

Separation can strongly impact the environment in which a child grows up. In some cases, it can have the positive consequence of reducing the amount of parental conflict a child would experience. In other cases, parental separation can contribute to an increasing disadvantage for children due to a loss of financial resources or spending less time with a parent who moved out.

Despite the recent expansion of education, children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are still less likely to attend university than children from wealthier families. This persisting inequality in educational attainment led social scientists to explore a range of possible factors behind these unequal opportunities. Given that in many countries it is very common for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to live without at least one parent, family structure has often been held responsible for explaining part of the inequality of opportunities between socioeconomic groups.

Divorce rates in Western countries have been increasing in recent decades and more children are also born to parents who never cohabitate.  As a result, more and more children are living in joint or sole physical custody.  Existing research has suggested some of the negative effects of parental separation on child-wellbeing, such as an increased risk of social maladjustment and poor health. However, very little research has explored the influence of parental ill health and well-being on children’s mental health as a result of differing family structures.

Im Lauf der letzten hundert Jahre haben die Scheidungs- und Trennungsraten in allen Staaten Europas dramatisch zugenommen. Hat dies für Kinder und Jugendliche dieselbe Bedeutung wie vor einem Jahrhundert? In welchem Maße hat sich der Zusammenhang zwischen elterlicher Scheidung und Kindeswohl im Lauf der Zeit verändert?

During the last hundred years, divorce and separation rates have increased dramatically in all European countries. But does it mean the same for children and adolescents today as it did a century ago? How has the association between parental divorce and child well-being changed in magnitude over time? To answer these questions for Sweden, Michael Gähler and Eva-Lisa Palmtag use six waves of the Swedish Level of Living Survey, and explore data on childhood living conditions for an entire century of Swedes, born between 1892 and 1991.  

Au cours du dernier siècle, les taux de divorces et de séparations ont considérablement augmenté dans tous les pays européens. Mais ceci a-t-il la même signification pour les enfants et les adolescents d’aujourd’hui que pour ceux d’il y a un siècle ? Comment le lien entre le divorce des parents d’un côté et l’équilibre des enfants de l’autre a-t-il changé au fil du temps ?

Durant les deux dernières décennies, la plupart des pays européens ont constaté une augmentation de l’immigration et de l’hétérogénéité ethnique au sein de leurs populations. Il n’est donc pas surprenant de voir également une augmentation des mariages entre la population autochtone et immigrée, même dans les pays où les barrières entre les différents groupes ethniques ont toujours été difficiles à franchir. Toutefois, l’état de la recherche européenne sur la dynamique des unions est loin d’être exhaustif.

During the last two decades, most European countries experienced increased immigration and ethnic heterogeneity in their populations. Not surprisingly, marriages between natives and immigrants also increased, even in those countries where the barriers between ethnic groups have typically been high. However, European research on union dynamics is far from being complete.