The Influence of Educational Expansion on Partnership Stability: A Cohort Study of First Partnerships in Switzerland

Abstract

This study examines the association between educational attainment and separation risks in marital or non-marital first partnerships to query the extent to which educational expansion has affected trends in partnership stability. Because the educational gradient in separation changed from being positive for women (and, to a lesser extent, for men) to being statistically non-significant at the same time as educational expansion took place, the latter can only serve as a minor explanation of the exceptional rise in breakup rates in Switzerland.

Keywords

• educational expansion
• educational gradient
• cohabitation
• separation
• divorce