Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2015, 51(6): 1023-1046 | DOI: 10.13060/00380288.2015.51.6.227

Gender and Re-partnering after Divorce in Four Central European and Baltic Countries

Aušra Maslauskaitė, Marė Baublytė

Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas

This article analyses the demographic and social determinants of repartnering after divorce in four Baltic and Central European transition countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary), which, despite their common transition paths after the 1990s, developed distinct political economies and have different gender and family cultures. The article explores how the re-partnering chances of divorced women and men are shaped by the social divisions of gender, parenthood, age, and education within various transition- society contexts. In general, the findings support the argument about the relevance and mediating role of the societal context in the process of re-partnering. Although we found an overall gender disadvantage in re-partnering across all countries, in more traditional contexts, parenthood undermines the chances of re-partnering for women but not for men. The negative effect of older age for re-partnering after divorce is almost universal for men, but is context-sensitive for women. Education does not affect women's chances of re-partnering, but it does play a significant role in the attractiveness of men in more traditional settings. The analysis is based on the partnership and parenthood histories recorded in the Generations and Gender Survey.

Keywords: re-partnering, divorce, gender culture, Central European countries, Baltic countries

Published: December 1, 2015Show citation