Relationship satisfaction is a key indicator in the GGS. It has been shown to be highly predictive of future break ups and highly correlated with other indicators of well-being. Understanding what makes for a satisfying relationship, and what policy makers could possibly do to help, is possible using data from the GGS. In their paper to be presented at the European Population Conference in Mainz, Van Damme and Dykstra examine how gender equality within a couple shapes their relationship satisfaction, and the degree to which gender equality within wider society might affect this. Their results suggest that women are less satisfied when they have more resources, in terms of education, relative to their partner. Conversely, when their resources are measured in absolute terms, women with more education and occupational status are more satisfied with their relationships. When looking at the social context, the results suggest that women in more egalitarian societies are more satisfied with their relationships. The full results of the analysis will be presented by the authors in Session 73 in Room P 101 at 11am on Friday 2nd September.
Figure 1: The average relationship satisfaction of individuals in couples (Scale of 0 to 10)
Van Damme & Dykstra (2016) “Relative resources and marital instability: a comparison of eightEuropean countries”, Session 73. Families and gender
