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!