Divorce and Diagnosis [DiDi]: Register-Based Analysis on the Role of Divorce in Health and Employment Dynamics

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Paul Gellert; Dr. Pavel Grigoriev; Professorin Dr. Michaela Regina Kreyenfeld
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 544381616

Taking a life course perspective, this project examines how divorce influences the health and employment dynamics of men and women in Germany. A large body of research has shown that family transitions – such as childbirth, marriage, divorce, or separation – have a profound impact on health and well-being. However, prior studies have remained bounded by the limitations of their respective disciplines. Sociological investigations often only used subjective measures of health outcomes, such as life satisfaction or well-being. Demographic or epidemiological research used more refined health outcomes but employed rather conventional variables to operationalise family behaviour. This project overcomes some of the shortcomings of prior research by linking different large-scale register data from the German Pension Insurance Fund, which allows us to analyse detailed measures of health outcomes (ICD-10 classification) together with detailed employment and marital histories. We examine: a) how divorce impacts different health outcomes (i.e., physical and mental health as well as mortality); b) how different health outcomes of divorcees affect their employment transitions; and c) how these patterns are moderated by age, gender, and past family behaviour (i.e., the earner model during marriage).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants