You know that your standard of living is going to change when you get divorced. It is commonly assumed that you would need to make more money just to keep it exactly where it was before. This is because you have all of the same bills, but now just on one income.
Another way to think of this is as if you’ve doubled some of your bills as a couple. Previously, the two of you split the mortgage payment, but now you’ll both have a mortgage. You’ll both need to pay property taxes, to pay for utilities, to pay for maintenance and upkeep, and much more. Living separately is simply more expensive than being married, in this sense.
So what do you think your standard of living is going to do if you end your marriage? Interestingly, the answer might depend on whether you are a man or a woman.
The gender difference
Some people believe that women who divorce their husbands tend to take a lot of their husband’s assets and make a lot of money in the process. To see if this claim was true or not, researchers began to look into it.
What they found was that women actually see a massive decrease in income after divorce. It can drop by an average of 20%. Rather than suddenly having an influx of wealth that they didn’t learn, they often find themselves facing financial troubles. The poverty rate for men is around 9% after divorce, but it’s around 27% for women.
Meanwhile, when studying what happened to men after divorce, the researchers found that their income increased by approximately 30%. This often meant that men felt like they were much more financially stable after ending their marriage, and that helps to explain why their poverty rate is so low. They tend to have an even better standard of living, whereas women tend to see theirs decline.
Looking into your options
Of course, these are just averages, and every case is unique. There are certainly plenty of men who see their income fall and women who see theirs increase. But you can see why it’s so important to consider all of your legal options when looking into your financial future and considering divorce.
