You may consider your divorce a cause for celebration. Yet it will cause you some challenges. As with many things in life, what gender you are can affect how it impacts you.
A recent study found that overall, women tend to come off worse than in divorce. However, this is not as clear-cut as you might think. Here are some of the study’s findings:
What is the effect of divorce on well-being?
Mens’ well-being suffered more in the short term than womens’. It appears to because women are more perceptive about the state of their relationship. Women had already worked out the marriage was over long before the men. They had already gone through the suffering before they told their husband they want to divorce. Once men too had done their grieving, the study found little to distinguish between the well-being of divorced men and women.
What is the social effect of divorce?
Again this showed things even out through the years. Men tended to find a new partner quicker than women. However, around 40% of men and women remained single five years after their marriage had ended.
What is the economic effect of divorce?
This was the one area where there was a massive difference between the sexes. In the year of divorce, men’s income rose on average 5% while women’s dropped 40%. After five years, men’s was similar to pre-divorce levels. By contrast, womens’ had only reached 75% of their pre-divorce income.
It goes to show the importance for women in securing an adequate divorce settlement. It must see them through a difficult first few years and prepare them for a future with a lower income than now.
