Housing and Divorce in Russia, 1992-2013

Theodore P. Gerber, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jane Zavisca, University of Arizona

Although housing conditions are likely to influence marital stability, there is little research that directly examines these potential effects. We analyze how the quality, tenure, and quantity of housing experienced by married couples in Russia relate to the risk of divorce from 1992-2013 using a new survey containing residential histories spanning that period, the Survey of Housing Experiences in Russia. Preliminary discrete time hazard models indicate that the divorce is more likely among couples who lack "housing autonomy" (i.e. reside with people other than themselves and their own children), more likely among couples with asymmetric property rights and less likely among those where both partners own the dwelling relative to couples where neither is a formal owner, and less likely the more rooms in the couple's dwelling. Marriage duration, education, age, and employment are also related to divorce risks in intuitive ways.