540 ANDREB,BORGLOH,BROCKEL,GIESSELMANN,AND HUMMELSHEIM women's employment in Sweden,Belgium,Germany, Even if H2 turns out to be true,the question remains Great Britain,and Italy.Table 2 ranks the countries with whether this is a temporary or a permanent phenome- respect to each indicator and the level of overall economic non.In other words,does the economic position of autonomy of women within each country. women recover to former pre-separation levels or does it Sweden scores highest on this index of economic remain on a level below pre-separation standards?When autonomy because most indicators show above average a partnership breaks down,support from the extended values.Italy for the same reasons scores lowest,while it family and the welfare state may form a safety net secur- is hard to differentiate Belgium,Germany,and Great ing a minimum standard of living.However,in the long Britain,which range in between Sweden and Italy. run,only own gainful employment guarantees that sepa- Belgian women,e.g.,show below average employment rated individuals participate in the income prospects of rates,although the state offers an excellent infrastructure the general population.Another important factor may of childcare.If they gain economic independence,they be repartnering. do so because of generous cash transfers.Cash transfers In our empirical analysis,we distinguish between and childcare infrastructure in Germany are lower than short-and long-term income changes for women.Given in Belgium,but German women are more often gain- the already high labour market participation of Swedish fully employed and may,therefore,experience the same women and the generous cash transfers of the Belgian amount of economic autonomy as Belgian women.The welfare state for families and individuals in need same is true for British women,where employment rates (Table 2),we expect the short-term consequences of are even higher than in Belgium and Germany,although separation for women in both countries to be compara- employment to a much larger degree is part-time,possi- tively low.The opposite is true for Italy where the safety bly because of the meagre system of childcare.If,as this net at best is built up by the extended family and not by summary suggests,economic autonomy of women is the welfare state with its rudimentary benefits for fami- highest in Sweden,the gender gap in post-separation lies.Therefore,concerning negative short-term conse- incomes should be the smallest in Sweden.This should quences,we expect the following country ranking: also be true for Swedish mothers,not only because of the extensive childcare infrastructure in Sweden,but also .H3:Italy (highest),Germany,Great Britain,Belgium, because Swedish men more often than men from other Sweden (lowest). countries live with children after separation,as we will Concerning the long-term consequences,again see in our later empirical analysis. Swedish and Belgian women seem to be better off, .H2:In Sweden the gender gap in post-separation either because their participation rate is already high or income is low,while gender inequality with regard to because an extensive infrastructure of childcare is income is high in Germany,Great Britain,and Belgium, available that at least in principle allows mothers' and especially high in Italy. employment.On the other hand,high female partici- pation rates before separation in Sweden imply that Up to now,our hypotheses focus on the average increased employment after separation will induce women and the average man in each country.This is only minor income gains.Similarly,it is difficult to clearly a simplification,because the concomitant income make a prognosis for Belgium.On the one hand,the changes during the course of separation depend on childcare system clearly provides employment oppor- many individual circumstances:whether the person is tunities for mothers.On the other hand,generous fam- employed before and/or after separation,whether she/he ily benefits,as they are typical for the Belgian welfare has to care for children,how she/he copes with the new state,may as well be an incentive for mothers to stay at situation,which may be easier for younger and more home.In contrast to Sweden and Belgium,average educated individuals,and so on.All of these individual female participation rates in Germany and high part- factors should be controlled for as far as it is possible time employment in Great Britain do make increased within the comparative framework.Since we use inde- employment after separation a rewarding option,espe- pendent national household panels,we must limit the cially because cash transfers in both countries are com- following analysis to a few selected control variables, paratively low(Table 2).Therefore, namely education,age,employment status,and parental obligations,which we were able to measure equivalently .H:We have no a priori hypothesis about which between the different data sets (for more details see the country scores best concerning the long-term conse- following section). quences of separation.540 ANDREß, BORGLOH, BRÖCKEL, GIESSELMANN, AND HUMMELSHEIM women’s employment in Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy.6 Table 2 ranks the countries with respect to each indicator and the level of overall economic autonomy of women within each country. Sweden scores highest on this index of economic autonomy because most indicators show above average values. Italy for the same reasons scores lowest, while it is hard to differentiate Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain, which range in between Sweden and Italy. Belgian women, e.g., show below average employment rates, although the state offers an excellent infrastructure of childcare. If they gain economic independence, they do so because of generous cash transfers. Cash transfers and childcare infrastructure in Germany are lower than in Belgium, but German women are more often gain￾fully employed and may, therefore, experience the same amount of economic autonomy as Belgian women. The same is true for British women, where employment rates are even higher than in Belgium and Germany, although employment to a much larger degree is part-time, possi￾bly because of the meagre system of childcare. If, as this summary suggests, economic autonomy of women is highest in Sweden, the gender gap in post-separation incomes should be the smallest in Sweden. This should also be true for Swedish mothers, not only because of the extensive childcare infrastructure in Sweden, but also because Swedish men more often than men from other countries live with children after separation, as we will see in our later empirical analysis. • H2: In Sweden the gender gap in post-separation income is low, while gender inequality with regard to income is high in Germany, Great Britain, and Belgium, and especially high in Italy. Up to now, our hypotheses focus on the average women and the average man in each country. This is clearly a simplification, because the concomitant income changes during the course of separation depend on many individual circumstances: whether the person is employed before and/or after separation, whether she/he has to care for children, how she/he copes with the new situation, which may be easier for younger and more educated individuals, and so on. All of these individual factors should be controlled for as far as it is possible within the comparative framework. Since we use inde￾pendent national household panels, we must limit the following analysis to a few selected control variables, namely education, age, employment status, and parental obligations, which we were able to measure equivalently between the different data sets (for more details see the following section). Even if H2 turns out to be true, the question remains whether this is a temporary or a permanent phenome￾non. In other words, does the economic position of women recover to former pre-separation levels or does it remain on a level below pre-separation standards? When a partnership breaks down, support from the extended family and the welfare state may form a safety net secur￾ing a minimum standard of living. However, in the long run, only own gainful employment guarantees that sepa￾rated individuals participate in the income prospects of the general population. Another important factor may be repartnering. In our empirical analysis, we distinguish between short- and long-term income changes for women. Given the already high labour market participation of Swedish women and the generous cash transfers of the Belgian welfare state for families and individuals in need (Table 2), we expect the short-term consequences of separation for women in both countries to be compara￾tively low. The opposite is true for Italy where the safety net at best is built up by the extended family and not by the welfare state with its rudimentary benefits for fami￾lies. Therefore, concerning negative short-term conse￾quences, we expect the following country ranking: • H3: Italy (highest), Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden (lowest). Concerning the long-term consequences, again Swedish and Belgian women seem to be better off, either because their participation rate is already high or because an extensive infrastructure of childcare is available that at least in principle allows mothers’ employment. On the other hand, high female partici￾pation rates before separation in Sweden imply that increased employment after separation will induce only minor income gains. Similarly, it is difficult to make a prognosis for Belgium. On the one hand, the childcare system clearly provides employment oppor￾tunities for mothers. On the other hand, generous fam￾ily benefits, as they are typical for the Belgian welfare state, may as well be an incentive for mothers to stay at home. In contrast to Sweden and Belgium, average female participation rates in Germany and high part￾time employment in Great Britain do make increased employment after separation a rewarding option, espe￾cially because cash transfers in both countries are com￾paratively low (Table 2). Therefore, • H4: We have no a priori hypothesis about which country scores best concerning the long-term conse￾quences of separation