In recent years, numerous studies have explored the consequences of separation on the standard of living of ex-spouses, and in particular the increased risk of poverty to which mothers of single-parent families are exposed. Until now, however, few studies have examined the impact of separation on children's lives. This is the premise of a report published jointly on Wednesday, January 31, by France Stratégie – a think-tank attached to the French government – and the French National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED). It sheds light on the fate of the 4 million children of separated parents.
How does separation directly affect living conditions? And what are the "living standards paths" of these children several years later? To find out, INED set up a database tracking 730,000 children between 2011 and 2019, using tax data from the adult with whom they live. It includes 36,000 children of separated parents. There's one constant – the risk of falling into poverty is higher for those living with their mother.
The first finding is hardly surprising: Children's standard of living drops after a separation. This drop is not only immediate, to the order of 19% the year of the relationship ending, but also "lasting," according to the report, sitting at 12% five years later. Not all situations are the same. For example, in the year following the breakup, the drop is greater for children living with their mother (the majority) than with their father. It is 25% in the year of separation in the former case, 11% in the latter. However, the difference diminishes over time.
Increased risk of poverty
The difference compared to the group of children of parents living together is also significant. A gap of 27% on average is recorded between the two groups in the year of separation, and it remains at 22% five years later. In this case, "there are significant differences according to social category, with a greater drop in living standards linked to separation for the most affluent families and a smaller drop for the poorest children," explained Anne Solaz, research director at INED and co-author of the study with Carole Bonnet (INED) and Marine de Montaignac (France Stratégie). This means that the gap is 20% in the year of separation for children from the most affluent households and 6% for those from the most low-income households.
One category is less affected than the others: children who live part of the time with each parent. For them, the drop in relation to the previous standard of living is less marked, at 12% the year following separation and 6% six years later. The publication acknowledges a bias that leads to this distinction. Children with shared custody come from better-off households, with a higher pre-separation standard of living than others.
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