This paper provides a general overview of trends and patterns in divorce in the present-day western world, focusing especially on the interaction between legal and behavioural aspects of union dissolution. The account is written from a sociological rather than a legal perspective. Its purpose is...

This paper seeks to test whether claims by Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) (W&P) on the negative effects of income inequality on social conditions in rich countries are borne out in the case of the family. The paper examines correlations between 13 family indicators and income inequality across...

Children in lone parent families typically experience not only parental absence but also sibling absence: they are more likely to be sole offspring or to have fewer siblings than children of stable unions. Previous research has looked at these factors separately and suggests that they might work...