Overview

After separation, the partner who has the day-to-day responsibility for dependent children has four main avenues for supporting the newly formed one-parent family: income from paid employment, maintenance transfers from the former spouse for themselves or their children, income from a new partner, or support from social security benefits or pensions. Given that employment is the key to independence, it is important to explore what factors help or hinder entry into paid employment for those who separate. The major focus of this paper is the explanation of differences in the post- separation histories in paid employment of a sample of women with dependent children. Relationships between repartnering and employment are explored, as are factors affecting the receipt of social security. 

This report is based on data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies' Economic Consequences of Marriage Breakdown (ECMB) Study and the Parents and Children After Marriage Breakdown (PCMB) Study. The ECMB and PCMB studies are part of the Institute's Australian Family Reformation Project." 

Child Support Scheme Evaluation Study report no. 3