Employment and divorce among Dutch women born between 1903 and 1937

Women's increased economic independence is often regarded as a major contributor to the rise in the divorce rate since the 1960s. The rise in female labor-force participation and educational attainment has eroded the benefits of the traditional gender division within marriage and reduced the negative financial consequences of divorce. Women's employment may also undermine traditional marital role expectations and increase stress and marital conflict. In contrast to other countries, the Netherlands has seen virtually no empirical support for this economic independence hypothesis to date. This article tests this hypothesis by examining women born between 1903 and 1937. The results of multivariate analyses confirm the economic independence hypothesis: both a high level of education and labor-force participation significantly increase women's likelihood of divorce. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.