542 ANDREB,BORGLOH,BROCKEL,GIESSELMANN,AND HUMMELSHEIM Table 3 Separated men and women in the national household panels Belgium Germany Great Britain Italy Sweden Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Separations(N) 181 222 684 753 470 674 60 51 183 170 Marriages 94 126 405 444 263 383 60 51 Consensual unions 87 96 309 309 207 291 0 0 Age at separation(mean) 36 34 35 33 35 33 43 40 40 40 High education before separation(%) 37 30 17 13 43 28 8 6 17 26 Employment before separation(%) Not employed 14 36 13 28 15 31 49 13 26 Part-time employed 4 17 19 29 38 10 8 27 Full-time employed 82 48 84 52 56 31 92 41 80 47 Employment after separation(%) Not employed 14 38 15 28 20 31 10 35 9 18 Part-time employed 2 12 3 16 7 37 2 9 23 Full-time employed 84 51 83 56 53 33 90 53 82 59 After separation living with children 31 90 28 93 25 94 14 94 44 75 "In the Swedish data marital dissolution cannot be distinguished from separation of a consensual union. Data incude only separated fathers and mothers.Percentages add up to over%because parents can have joint custody,children from a new part- ner are included and because only one parent can be present in the data (cf.endnote 8). and after separation,we notice a trend towards more from labour,assets,public and private transfers(includ- employment in Italy and Sweden for women,while in ing child and spousal support)minus taxes and payable Belgium and Germany more women work full-time maintenance expenses.We have calculated monthly after separation.Since most men work full-time before disposable household income for each country as separation,further increases in employment are hardly analogously as possible(see Table A2 for details).Never- feasible.On the contrary,a reduction of employment for theless,our specific operationalization may differ from men is much more probable.However,this event is not panel to panel due to data restrictions.One restriction observed more often for men than for women. concerns the time period:if income was available only Childcare is largely the wife's responsibility.This is on a yearly basis,we divided the yearly amount by 12 to also the case when a partnership breaks down.Table 3 receive an average monthly income.Another restriction shows whether parents among our sample members live concerns tax payments:in some panels questions on together with children after separation (including own income taxes are asked,in others we only have a tax sim- and children from a new partner).As can be seen from ulation to estimate net income.1 Finally,the amount of these data,most mothers in all five countries live maintenance paid by liable persons and the amount together with children after separation.Sweden is the received by entitled persons do not agree in some cases. only country,where a significant proportion (44 per But given different question wordings and possible biased cent)of fathers cares for children after separation.The reports about support payments(Schaeffer et al.,1991), lowest proportion of fathers (14 per cent)living with no attempt was made to correct the data.All incomes children after separation is found in Italy. were measured in 1995 prices by using the official con- sumer price indices as provided by the International Income Indicators Monetary Fund(International Financial Statistics/Inter- national Monetary Fund,2002).Finally,incomes were Central focus of our analysis is the economic situation of converted from national currencies to Euros. the household before and after separation.The national Analysing the economic position of individuals within panel studies provide various income indicators for dif- the household context,i.e.using household instead of per- ferent time periods(year,month)both on the individual sonal incomes,is a difficult matter depending on various and on the household levels.For our analysis we use data methodological assumptions concerning income sharing, on monthly disposable household income.We define economies of scale,and different economic needs with disposable household income as the sum of income respect to age and other socio-demographic variables.We542 ANDREß, BORGLOH, BRÖCKEL, GIESSELMANN, AND HUMMELSHEIM and after separation, we notice a trend towards more employment in Italy and Sweden for women, while in Belgium and Germany more women work full-time after separation. Since most men work full-time before separation, further increases in employment are hardly feasible. On the contrary, a reduction of employment for men is much more probable. However, this event is not observed more often for men than for women. Childcare is largely the wife’s responsibility. This is also the case when a partnership breaks down. Table 3 shows whether parents among our sample members live together with children after separation (including own and children from a new partner). As can be seen from these data, most mothers in all five countries live together with children after separation. Sweden is the only country, where a significant proportion (44 per cent) of fathers cares for children after separation. The lowest proportion of fathers (14 per cent) living with children after separation is found in Italy. Income Indicators Central focus of our analysis is the economic situation of the household before and after separation. The national panel studies provide various income indicators for dif￾ferent time periods (year, month) both on the individual and on the household levels. For our analysis we use data on monthly disposable household income. We define disposable household income as the sum of income from labour, assets, public and private transfers (includ￾ing child and spousal support) minus taxes and payable maintenance expenses. We have calculated monthly disposable household income for each country as analogously as possible (see Table A2 for details). Never￾theless, our specific operationalization may differ from panel to panel due to data restrictions. One restriction concerns the time period: if income was available only on a yearly basis, we divided the yearly amount by 12 to receive an average monthly income. Another restriction concerns tax payments: in some panels questions on income taxes are asked, in others we only have a tax sim￾ulation to estimate net income.11 Finally, the amount of maintenance paid by liable persons and the amount received by entitled persons do not agree in some cases. But given different question wordings and possible biased reports about support payments (Schaeffer et al., 1991), no attempt was made to correct the data. All incomes were measured in 1995 prices by using the official con￾sumer price indices as provided by the International Monetary Fund (International Financial Statistics/Inter￾national Monetary Fund, 2002). Finally, incomes were converted from national currencies to Euros. Analysing the economic position of individuals within the household context, i.e. using household instead of per￾sonal incomes, is a difficult matter depending on various methodological assumptions concerning income sharing, economies of scale, and different economic needs with respect to age and other socio-demographic variables. We Table 3 Separated men and women in the national household panels a In the Swedish data marital dissolution cannot be distinguished from separation of a consensual union. b Data include only separated fathers and mothers. Percentages add up to over 100%, because parents can have joint custody, because children from a new part￾ner are included and because only one parent can be present in the data (cf. endnote 8). Belgium Germany Great Britain Italy Sweden Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Separations (N) 181 222 684 753 470 674 60 51 183 170 Marriages 94 126 405 444 263 383 60 51 –a – Consensual unions 87 96 309 309 207 291 0 0 – – Age at separation (mean) 36 34 35 33 35 33 43 40 40 40 High education before separation (%) 37 30 17 13 43 28 8 6 17 26 Employment before separation (%) Not employed 14 36 13 28 15 31 7 49 13 26 Part-time employed 4 17 4 19 29 38 2 10 8 27 Full-time employed 82 48 84 52 56 31 92 41 80 47 Employment after separation (%) Not employed 14 38 15 28 20 31 10 35 9 18 Part-time employed 2 12 3 16 27 37 – 12 9 23 Full-time employed 84 51 83 56 53 33 90 53 82 59 After separation living with childrenb 31 90 28 93 25 94 14 94 44 75