Financial living standards after divorce: A recent snapshot

Research paper No. 23, December 2000

Appendix tables

Appendix Table 1: Demographic profile by sample by gender

  Younger sample (n=372) Older sample (n=102)
  Men %
(n=143)		 Women %
(n=229)		 Men %
(n=40)		 Women %
(n=62)
State/Territory
VIC 29 31 30 37
NSW 32 34 33 31
QLD 20 21 20 13
SA 13 8 13 11
TAS 3 4 3 5
ACT 3 1 0 3
NT 1 1 3 0
Geographical location
City* (including ACT) 62 60 63 61
Country (excluding NT/TAS) 38 40 37 39
Age
25-34 13 17 0 0
35-44 51 61 2 2
45-54 31 21 28 61
55-64 4 1 43 31
65+ 1 0 28 7
Education
Year 10 or below 18 32 40 36
Year 11-12 24 29 20 21
Diploma/ Vocational training 37 17 20 19
Degree 20 22 20 24
Employment status
In full-time paid work 72 36 43 26
In part-time paid work 9 34 5 32
Not in paid work # 20 31 53 42
Main source of income
DSS recipient 16 36 33 39
Not a DSS recipient 84 64 68 61
Marital status
Single 52 73 68 79
De facto 18 14 18 10
Re-married 29 14 15 11
Housing tenure
Own 17 19 43 50
Purchasing 48 40 33 32
Rent - private 27 26 18 11
Rent - public 6 13 5 5
Other 2 2 3 2
Children’s residency
Resident parent 18 86 9 55
Non-Resident parent 63 4 24 2
Split residence of siblings 11 7 0 2
Independent 8 4 68 41
Family type
Live alone 29 5 60 32
Sole parent 23 68 8 47
Repartner (no children in h/h) 20 2 28 15
Repartner (children in h/h) 28 26 5 7
Length of marriage
1-5 yrs 25 19 0 0
6-10 yrs 25 27 0 0
11-15 yrs 29 30 10 3
16-20 yrs 16 16 18 14
21-25 yrs 5 6 18 49
20+ yrs 0 1 55 34
Number of years since separation
1-3 yrs 12 18 23 30
4-6 yrs 47 36 25 30
7-9 yrs 41 46 53 41

Notes:
* Major metropolitan cities were defined in line with Australian Bureau of Statistics Statistical Divisions;
# includes those looking for work.

Source: Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 2. Demographic profile by sample and gender: measures of central tendency

  Older sample (n=102) Younger sample (n=372)
  Men (n=40) Women (n=62) Men (n=143) Women (n=229)
  Median Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Mean SD Median Mean SD
Age (years) 59.5 59.7 7.7 53.0 53.9 5.56 42.0 42.5 7.2 40.0 40.1 6.07
Years of marriage 26.0 25.9 7.6 24.0 24.5 5.5 10.5 10.7 5.7 11.0 11.3 5.8
No. of years since sepn 7.0 5.9 2.5 6.0 5.59 2.4 6.0 6.0 2.2 6.0 5.9 2.2
HPL 167.8 176.1 84.3 96.8 117.0 69.8 164.6 182.4 101.0 115.0 136.5 69.6
Personal gross income $24,700 $26,246 $17,077 $14,280 19,358 $12,986 $35,500 $37,298 $22,568 $20,800 $24,820 $16,330
Household gross income $26,598 $33,670 $26,609 $17,250 $23,907 $19,499 $45,000 $49,908 $33,456 $26,250 $34,196 $24,257

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 3. Equivalent household income by sample and gender

  Older sample (n=102) Younger sample (n=372)
  Men %
(n=40) 		Women %
( n=62) 		Men %
(n=143) 		Women %
(n=229)
200% + of HPL 38 8 36 17
100-199% of HPL 38 37 41 49
<100% of HPL 25 55 22 35
Total 100 100 100 100
100%+ of HPL 75 45 78 65
<100% of HPL 25 55 22 35
Total 100 100 100 100
85%+ of HPL 93 69 86 78
<85% of HPL 8 31 14 22
Total 100 100 100 100
73%+ of HPL 95 81 91 87
<73% of HPL 5 19 9 13
Total 100 100 100 100

Notes: HPL = Henderson poverty line

3 x 2 table:
100% threshold - Older sample: Χ2 (2) = 15.76, p<.001; Younger sample: Χ2 (2)= 19.83, p<.0001.

2 x 2 tables:
100% threshold - Older sample: Χ2 (1) = 8.83, p<.01; Younger sample: Χ2 (1) = 6.60, p<.05;
85% threshold - Older sample: Χ2 (1) = 7.70, p<.01; Younger sample: Χ2 (1) = 3.91, p<.05;
73% threshold - Older sample: Χ2 (1) = 4.23, p<.05; Younger sample: Χ2 (1) = 1.12, p>.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 4. Equivalent household income by family type by sample and gender

  Alone (n=86) Sole parent (n=217) Couple - no children (n=28) Couple & children (n=236)
  Younger men %
(n=42) 		Older men %
(n=24) 		Older women %
(n=20) 		Younger men %
(n=33) 		Younger women %
(n=155) 		Older women %
(n=29) 		Younger men %
(n=28) 		Younger men %
(n=40) 		Younger women %
(n=59)
200% + of HPL 24 29 5 24 7 7 68 38 32
100-199% of HPL 43 38 30 52 49 35 21 45 53
<HPL 33 33 65 24 44 59 11 18 15
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
100%+ of HPL 67 67 35 76 56 41 89 83 85
<100% of HPL 33 33 65 24 44 59 11 18 15
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
85%+ of HPL 83 96 75 82 72 62 89 90 90
<85% of HPL 17 4 25 18 28 38 11 10 10
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
73%+ of HPL 91 96 85 85 83 76 89 98 97
<73% of HPL 10 4 15 15 17 24 11 3 3
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Notes:
HPL = Henderson poverty line;
Missing cases=44.

3 x 5 table (men) and 3 x 4 table (women)
100% threshold - Men: Χ2 (8) = 20.38, p<.01; Women: Χ2 (6) = 41.18, p<.0001.

2 x 5 tables (men) and 2 x 4 tables (women)
100% threshold - Men: Χ2 (4) = 6.80, p>.05; Women: Χ2 (3) = 25.23, p<.0001;
85% threshold - Men: Χ2 (4) = 3.46, p>.05; Women: Χ2 (3) = 10.43, p<.05;
73% threshold - Men: Χ2 (4) = 4.60, p>.05;

2 x 3 tables (women)
73% threshold - Women:- excluding older women alone Χ2 (2) = 8.93, p<.05; Women:- excluding older women sole parents Χ2 (2) = 7.16, p<.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 5. Satisfaction with family income rating by sample and gender

  Older sample (n=102) Younger sample (n=372)
  Men (n=40) Women (n=62) Men (n=143) Women (n=229)
Median 6.50 5.00 6.00 6.00
Mean 6.25 4.98 5.80 5.57
Standard deviation 2.18 2.49 2.25 2.38

Notes. Older sample: t (99) =2.62, p<.05; Younger sample: t (368) =.92, p>.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 6. Satisfaction with family income rating by family type, sample and gender

  Alone (n=86) Sole parent (n=215) Couple - no children (n=28) Couple & children (n=236)
  Younger men (n=42) Older men (n=24) Older women (n=20) Younger men (n=33) Younger women (n=153) Older women (n=29) Younger men (n=28) Younger men (n=40) Younger women (n=59)
Median 5.00 6.50 6.00 6.00 5.00 5.00 7.00 6.00 7.00
Mean 5.26 6.42 5.20 6.06 5.07 4.76 5.82 6.13 6.92
Standard deviation 2.43 2.23 2.42 2.05 2.26 2.39 2.65 1.86 1.97

Notes:
Missing cases=46;
Women: F (3,257) =11.05, p<.0001, Tukey post-hoc comparisons: Repartnered women with children > younger & older sole parents, and older women living alone (p<.05),
Men: F (4,162) =1.32, p>.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 7. Mean standardised scores of family income (objective and subjective) and standard deviations by sample and gender

  Older sample (n=102) Younger sample (n=372)
  Men (n=40) z-score Women (n=62) z-score Men (n=143) z-score Women (n=229) z-score
Objective
Mean .29 -.40 .37 -.17
Standard deviation .99 .82 1.19 .82
Subjective
Mean .27 -.27 .08 -.02
Standard deviation .93 1.06 .96 1.01

Notes:
Objective versus subjective: two-tailed paired t-tests — Older men: t (39) =.14, p>.05; Older women: t (60) =1.04, p>.05; Younger men: t (142) =3.23, p<.01; Younger women: t (226) =2.25, p<.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.

Appendix Table 8. Mean standardised scores of family income (objective and subjective) and standard deviations by family type, sample and gender

  Alone (n=86) Sole parent (n=215) Couple - no children (n=28) Couple & children (n=236)
  Younger men (n=42) z-score Older men (n=24) z-score Older women (n=20) z-score Younger men (n=33) z-score Younger women (n=153) z-score Older women (n=29) z-score Younger men (n=28) z-score Younger men (n=40) z-score Younger women (n=59) z-score
Objective
Mean .12 .06 -.57 -.04 -.41 -.48 1.15 .42 .25
Standard deviation 1.17 .84 .48 .77 .67 .60 1.43 1.09 .87
Subjective
Mean -.15 .34 -.18 .19 -.24 -.37 .09 .22 .55
Standard deviation 1.03 .95 1.03 .87 .96 1.01 1.13 .79 .84

Notes:
Missing cases=46;
Objective versus subjective: two-tailed paired t-tests — Younger men alone: t (41) =1.84, p>.05; Older men alone: t (23) =1.12, p>.05; Older women alone: t (19) =1.66, p>.05; Younger men sole parents: t (32) =1.53, p>.05; Younger women sole parents: t (152) =2.12, p<.05; Older women sole parents: t (28) =.71, p>.05; Younger men repartnered without children: t (27) =4.40, p<.001; Younger men repartnered with children: t (39) =1.30, p>.05; Younger women repartnered with children: t (58) =2.49, p<.05.

Source. Australian Divorce Transitions Project, Australian Institute of Family Studies 2000.