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We study how different levels of protection upon separation affect the labour market behaviour of unmarried cohabiting partners. In Canada, unmarried cohabitation becomes a legal status after one year of relationship. Most provinces automatically expand couples' rights and responsibilities after several years of cohabitation: some provinces allow cohabiting partners to claim for alimony upon separation, while others consider cohabiting couples to be equal to married couples. Using cross-province variations in legal settings and minimum eligibility duration, we show that eligibility for a more protective regime increases men's labour supply and earnings and decreases those of women's. The impact of the marriage-like regime is stronger, especially for women. We find that the effect is significantly stronger for couples directly eligible at the time of the reform than for couples who are eligible after the reform and may have anticipated changes in the legal settings. Our results show that eligibility affects within-household allocation of earnings and hours of work, and reinforces existing inequality. We present some evidence that enhancing protection upon separation has an effect on the selection of couples into cohabitation. Our results contribute to the ongoing public debate regarding the legal recognition and level of protection that should be given to unmarried cohabiting partners. Our results show that behavioural response may offset additional protection upon separation by increasing women's dependence on their partner.

We show how the legal settings of unmarried cohabitation affect partners' labor market outcomes. In Canada, cohabiting couples are automatically entitled to certain rights after a few years of cohabitation. In some provinces, ex-cohabiting partners can claim for alimony upon separation, in others they can claim for an equal split of all the assets acquired during the relationship. As legal settings of unmarried cohabitation differ across time, provinces and duration of the relationship, it provides a unique framework to analyze how different levels of commitment affect couples' decision regarding labor market supply. Using cross-provinces variation in the legal settings and minimum duration for eligibility, we show that unmarried cohabiting men increase their labor force supply when they become eligible to a more committed cohabitation regime, whereas women decrease theirs. Higher levels of commitment induce larger effects on labor market outcomes.

We analyze the impact of children on their mothers' labor market outcomes in the UK. We use time-to-conception of the first child as an exogenous variation in the probability of having more children. We find that having more children decreases the propensity to work in long part-time jobs but does not reduce participation for high- and intermediate-skilled mothers. For low skilled women, the impact on participation is large and negative. We show that the selection into having a second child is positive for for low-skilled mothers and negative for high-skilled and intermediate-skilled mothers. Women most attached to the labor market are also those that tend to have only one child among high- and intermediate-skilled women. The reverse is true for low-skilled women: those least attached to the labor market are also less likely to have a second child. This appears to be driven by unobserved attributes that negatively affect both labor market outcomes and the likelihood to remain in a relationship with the father of the first child, which in turn negatively affects the probability to have a second child.

We analyze the impact of children on their mothers' labor market outcomes in the UK. We use timeto-conception of the first child as an exogenous variation in the probability of having more children. We find that having more children decreases the propensity to work in long part-time jobs but does not reduce participation for high- and intermediate-skilled mothers. For low skilled women, the impact on participation is large and negative. We show that the selection into having a second child is positive for for low-skilled mothers and negative for high-skilled and intermediate-skilled mothers. Women most attached to the labor market are also those that tend to have only one child among highand intermediate-skilled women. The reverse is true for low-skilled women: those least attached to the labor market are also less likely to have a second child. This appears to be driven by unobserved attributes that negatively affect both labor market outcomes and the likelihood to remain in a relationship with the father of the first child, which in turn negatively affects the probability to have a second child

For children, parental separation is often accompanied by an increased risk of poverty and deteriorating living standards. These effects have been studied over relatively short periods of time, and not considering the multi-faceted context of childhood disadvantage. In this paper, we use the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of over 18,000 children, to consider how parental separation affects the experience of childhood poverty and multi-domain deprivation from birth to age 11. Results highlight a large decrease in income after parental separation, and with only a partial recovery over the long term. However, the effects of parental separation on childhood deprivation were mixed. We note strong long-lasting effects of parental separation on deprivation from leisure activities such as holidays and after school activities; while effects on material deprivation are not long lasting. There are no effects on parenting involvement. This suggests that while facing strong financial constraints, parents reduce activities such as holidays and outings but attempt to limit changes in children’s material circumstances and their day-to-day parenting and routines. Maternal re-partnering is the most important post-separation recovery channel, more so than maternal work. The post-separation trajectories of children living with more and less educated mothers differ, suggesting that the pre-separation parental social and economic capital may play an important role.

Nous analysons l’effet des enfants sur l’offre de travail et les conditions de travail des mères. Afin de d’identifier un effet causal, nous utilisons la durée de conception du premier enfant comme source de variation exogène dans la probabilité d’avoir un deuxième enfant. La probabilité d’avoir un deuxième enfant est fortement réduite lorsque la durée de conception du premier enfant a été supérieure à un an. Nos résultats indiquent que l’effet d’avoir un deuxième enfant sur l’offre de travail des femmes appartenant aux catégories sociales favorisées n’est pas significatif, alors qu’il est négatif et important pour les femmes appartenant aux catégories sociales défavorisées. Nous montrons que les effets de sélection vont dans des directions opposées pour les différentes catégories sociales. Parmi les catégories supérieures ou intermédiaires, les femmes les plus attachées au marché du travail sont aussi celles qui n’ont qu’un enfant. En revanche, ce sont les femmes les moins attachées au marché du travail qui sont les moins à même d’avoir un deuxième enfant parmi les catégories défavorisées parce que ce sont aussi les femmes qui se séparent plus souvent de leur partenaire.

Cet article étudie l'évolution des contrats de mariage, des régimes matrimoniaux et de la dot en France sur la période 1855-2010. Ces séries historiques montrent que les aspects économiques du mariage ont sensiblement changé au cours du temps. Premièrement, le contrat de mariage a été fréquemment utilisé par les couples pour se départir du régime matrimonial par défaut, que ce soit pour limiter les pouvoirs économiques du mari ou pour protéger le conjoint survivant par exemple. Deuxièmement, cet article met en évidence les changements dans la nature du patrimoine causés par le déclin des régimes de communauté et l'essor du régime de la séparation de biens depuis les années 1960. Cette individualisation du patrimoine s'oppose à la prééminence des régimes de communauté depuis la création du Code Civil en 1804. Cette évolution peut être vue comme une amélioration du statut des femmes mariées qui se sont progressivement émancipées de l'autorité du père puis de celle du mari. D'un point de vue patrimonial, nous montrons que le retour du patrimoine en France s'accompagne d'un changement dans sa nature, qui nécessiterait d'être pris en compte dans le cadre de comparaisons historiques.

Depuis la fin des années 1980, les modes de vie en couple ont fortement évolué. Le mariage sous un régime de communauté de biens réduite aux acquêts était prépondérant pour les couples formés entre 1980 et 1992, mais cette forme traditionnelle de vie en couple n'est pas la plus commune parmi les couples formés entre 1998 et 2010 en raison du recul du mariage mais aussi, pour les couples mariés, du recours accru au régime matrimonial de la séparation des biens. Cette évolution peut être expliquée de deux façons. D'une part, l'augmentation du risque de divorce peut modifier les comportements des couples, à caractéristiques données de ces couples. D'autre part, ces caractéristiques des couples ont également évolué au cours de la période, qu'il s'agisse de patrimoine, d'inégalités entre conjoints ou de l'offre de travail des femmes. Nous décomposons l'évolution du recours au mariage et à un régime de séparation des biens afin de déterminer quels facteurs semblent expliquer les évolutions des modes de vie en couple. Nous montrons que la baisse du recours au mariage s'explique principalement par une modification des comportements des couples, en particulier du fait que le lien entre patrimoine et mariage s'est atténué au fil des années, alors que la banalisation du divorce a rendu le (re)mariage plus aisé. L'évolution du recours à la séparation de biens s'explique principalement par le changement des caractéristiques des couples, en particulier par l'augmentation du patrimoine des ménages et des inégalités entre conjoints.

This dissertation examines the economic impacts of Civil Union (pacs) and marriage in France. It is divided into three chapters. Chapter 2 evaluates the effect of taxation on the number of pacs contracted in France. Chapter 3 aims at determining if the pacs is a substitute to marriage. On that purpose, it analyzes the evolution of marriage rates and the evolution of the age at first marriage since the pacs has been created in 1999. Chapter 4 questions the economic impact of marriage : it estimates the impact of marriage on credit constraints of couples. Taxation had a clear impact on the increase in the number of contracted pacs by year. But the evolution of the number of pacs has not decreased the number of marriages. The recent trends exhibit declining marriage rates and increasing ages at first marriage but they are a continuation of previous trends observed for the last 25 years. The decline in the marriage rates, joined with the development of cohabitation introduces a difference between unmarried and married couples. The latter are more likely to form investment projects but they do not benefit from their marital status on the credit market. They suffer bad terms of credit, indicating that marriage selects couples more willing to invest in housing.; Cette thèse porte sur les impacts économiques du pacs et du mariage en France. Elle s'articule autour de trois axes. Le chapitre 2 évalue l'impact de la fiscalité sur le nombre de pacs contractés en France. Le chapitre 3 cherche à déterminer si le pacs se substitue au mariage en étudiant l'évolution des taux de mariage et de l'âge au premier mariage depuis la mise en place du pacs in 1999. Le chapitre 4 s'interroge sur l'impact économique du mariage en évaluant l'effet du mariage sur les contraintes de crédit des couples. Si la fiscalité a joué un rôle indéniable dans la progression du nombre de pacs contractés chaque année en France, celui-ci ne semble pas avoir augmenté au détriment du mariage, dont l'évolution récente prolonge la modification du paysage matrimonial observée depuis 25 ans, à savoir une baisse des taux de mariage et un recul de l'âge au premier mariage. Si la baisse du nombre de mariages contractés, associée au développement de la cohabitation hors mariage introduit une distinction entre couples non-mariés et couples mariés, ces derniers ont plus souvent des projets d'investissement mais ils ne sont pas pour autant avantagés sur le marché du crédit. Ils souffrent de plus mauvaises conditions d'emprunt, traduisant une sélection dans le mariage des couples les plus enclins à investir.

Although the tax system is not marriage neutral in many countries, it has been found only slightly significant in determining marriage decision (Buffeteau and Echevin, 2003; Alm and Whittington, 1995). This paper tests if the tax system could alter the decision to contract a civil union, which is a less binding marital contract. In France, since 1999, couples can either contract a marriage or a civil union (pacs). I assess the impact of taxation on the decision to contract a pacs using a difference-in-differences evaluation of the 2005 reform of income taxation of newly pacsed couples. As the control group is contaminated by the reform, I propose an original estimation method based on a difference-in-differences-in-differences setting to estimate bounds to the impact of the reform. My results suggest a positive and increasing impact of taxation on pacs rates, but also a change in the timing of pacs indicating that taxation alters the decision to contract a pacs. I find a slightly significant impact of taxation on the decision to break up a pacs.

Large changes in marital trends during the second half of the 20th century raise the question of the reason leading to marriage in Western Europe and in Northern America: declining marriage rates, increase in cohabitation, increasing divorce rates. But the reason to get married can be diverse and can evolve over the life cycle. This paper examines is there is a demand for different marital contracts. In France, since 1999, two types of marital contracts are available: the marriage and the civil union (pacs). This paper investigates the substitution between the two contracts, by analyzing the distribution of the age at first marriage by cohort. It detects some recent changes in the bottom of the distribution of the age at first marriage, indicating a small impact of pacs on marriage. Therefore, it tends to conclude that substitution effects are likely to be very small and that the pacs reveals a demand for different marital contracts.

Are married couples more credit constrained than unmarried households? If the cost of separation increases the risk of default, banks might be willing to lend to stable couples. In presence of incomplete information, marriage could be used as a signal of the quality of the match. This paper investigates the link between marriage and credit constraints. I use matching methods to evaluate the impact of marriage on credit constraints. I find that married couples are more likely to be approved for their loan, but they bear higher costs of credit. The differences between married and unmarried couples can be attributed to selection in the marriage rather than to discrimination against unmarried couples.

En 2005, en France, plus de 80 % des femmes avec un ou deux enfants d'au moins 3 ans sont actives : maternité et activité font bon ménage. Cependant, avec trois enfants ou davantage, les mères sont moins nombreuses à travailler