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Single Mothers Always Lose? Union Dissolution and Perceived Changes in Material Well-Being in Lithuania

ABSTRACT The article investigates the perceived changes in material well-being of single mothers due to union dissolution in Lithuania. The analysis is based on a nationally representative data set; our sample includes 415 single mothers with underaged children. At the core of the analysis is the effect of socioeconomic standing on the assessment of changes. I use the level of education as the proxy variable for the measurement of socioeconomic position and consider education on the individual and ex-couple level. The decline of material conditions after union dissolution was reported by 45% of the sample. The main results, based on the multivariate analysis, indicate the most negative effect of union dissolution for women from the educationally heterogeneous ex-couples, where women’s education was lower than men’s. Thus, union dissolution most negatively affects women, who were economically dependent in the previous partnership. Contrary to our expectation, we did not find any significant association between women’s education and the assessment of the changes in material well-being. However, ex-partner’s education is a significant predictor and shows the highest risk of reporting negative changes for women previously partnered with university-educated men. On a more general level, the article highlights the importance of the subjective indicators in the analysis of economic divorce outcomes.