Measuring Public-Private-Substitution After Divorce: Ex-Spouse Income and the Effect of Marital Separation on Social Assistance Take-up

Kessler, Dorian; Potarca, Gina; Bernardi, Laura (2021). Measuring Public-Private-Substitution After Divorce: Ex-Spouse Income and the Effect of Marital Separation on Social Assistance Take-up International Journal of Social Welfare, 31(2), pp. 176-186. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/ijsw.12514

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Both public social assistance and private child and spousal support reduce the poverty risks of single parent households. However, research on system interactions has highlighted that social assistance eligibility is often denied for households that have a private support order. Such public-private substitution reduces social expenditures but undermines poverty reduction and prolongs economic dependency in separated couples. Using Swiss administrative data on ex-spouse income and social assistance take-up after divorce, this study develops an empirical approach to quantify public-private substitution. We have found that marital separation increased a mother’s probability of receiving social assistance by 19 percentage points if both her own and her ex-spouse’s income were in the bottom 30% of the distribution. This probability was reduced to 1 percentage point for low-income mothers whose ex-spouses had top-30% incomes. This strict public-private substitution could partially account for child poverty and reflects the traditional gender regime in Switzerland.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Social Work > Social Security focus area School of Social Work School of Social Work > Institute for Social Security and Social Policy
Name:	Kessler, Dorian; Potarca, Gina and Bernardi, Laura
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
ISSN:	1369-6866
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Language:	English
Submitter:	Dorian Kessler
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2021 10:55
Last Modified:	27 Mar 2022 01:34
Publisher DOI:	10.1111/ijsw.12514
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.15484
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/15484