Attitudes towards Divorce in Three Generations in Estonia Kadri Rootalu University of Tartu, Estonia
Dec 21, 2015
Attitudes towards Divorce in Three Generations in Estonia
Kadri Rootalu
University of Tartu, Estonia
• Generally: attitudes vary little across generations
• Family attitudes and change in family forms
• Estonia has relatively high divorce numbers and the acceptance of divorces is comparable to other European countries (Gelissen 2003).
• Attitudes towards divorces
• In three generations (inside the family)
• Impact of parental divorce/separation on children
Data
• Study: “Value of children in Estonia”
• It is a three-generation study of:1. Adolescent children of both sexes (14-17
years; N=300)
2. Mothers (N=300)
3. The maternal grandmothers of the adolescent children (N=115)
Data
Questions:
• Parents of small children should stay together even if they do not get along
• Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
• Is it too easy to get a divorce nowadays in Estonia
(1 – strongly disagree ... 5 – strongly agree)
Data
• Children49% boys, 51% girls
43% parents divorced or separated
• MothersAge (mean) 42 years
20% parents divorced or separated
• GrandmothersAge (mean) 67 years
Acceptance of divorce 1
Parents of small children should stay together even if they do not get along
1122 19
7
18
3249
38
40
2919
31
2614 11
17
5 2 3 6
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
boys girls mother grandmother
strongly agree
agree
neither agree nor disagree
disagree
strongly disagree
Acceptance of divorce 2
Conflicts between parents harm children more than divorce
2 3 2 47 7 5 4
28 2114
21
4342
5352
2026 26
19
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
boys girls mother grandmother
strongly agree
agree
neither agree nor disagree
disagree
strongly disagree
Acceptance of divorce 3
It is too easy to get a divorce nowadays in Estonia
5 2
98
5751
2032
8 8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
mother grandmother
strongly agree
agree
neither agree nor disagree
disagree
strongly disagree
Parental divorce 1
Parents of small children should stay together even if they do not get along
17 16
24 27
3138
2416
4 2
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
No Yes
Parents divorced/separated
strongly agree
agree
neither agree nor disagree
disagree
strongly disagree
Parental divorce 2
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
1 47 7
2129
4540
25 20
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
No Yes
Parents divorced/separated
strongly agree
agree
neither agree nor disagree
disagree
strongly disagree
Transmission of attitudes 1Table 1. Spearman correlations between the items of divorce attitudes Child Parents of small
children should stay together
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
Child Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
-0.08
Parents of small children should stay together
0.15* Mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
0.12*
Parents of small children should stay together
0.19* Grand-mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
-0.15
** p<0.01 * p<0.05 + p<0.10
Transmission of attitudes 2Table 2. Spearman correlations between the items of divorce attitudes Mother Grandmother Parents of small
children should stay together
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
Parents of small children should stay together
Parents of small children should stay together
Mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
-0.40**
Parents of small children should stay together
0.21* Grand-mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
0.18 -0.41**
** p<0.01 * p<0.05 + p<0.10
Transmission of attitudes 3Table 3. Spearman correlations between the items of divorce attitudes by gender Boys Girls Parents of
small children should stay together
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
Parents of small children should stay together
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
Child Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
0.01 -0.14+
Parents of small children should stay together
0.08 0.21* Mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
0.06 0.16+
Parents of small children should stay together
0.45** -0.04 Grand-mother
Conflicts between the parents harm children more than divorce
-0.17 -0.09
** p<0.01 * p<0.05 + p<0.10
Results
• The middle generation (mothers) is the most tolerant towards divorce
• When comparing boys and girls, differences occur for the statement “Parents of small children should stay together”.
• Girls accept divorce when there are small children in home more than boys
Results
• No major differences in attitudes towards divorce were found when comparing children with divorced parents to children living with both parents
• Transmission of divorce attitudes occurred from grandmothers to mothers and from mothers to daughters
Thank you!