Do Women Benefit More From Divorce?
Divorce laws have made getting a divorce easier, but have they made women better off? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of divorce for women.
The implications of gender differences in regard to economic status, housing, health and social post-divorce outline the advantages and disadvantages for divorced women.
Benefits and Consequences of Divorce: Women versus Men
Economic
After divorce, women encounter higher costs than men due to a decline in household income by 27% of their standard of living. The opposite is true for men, who experience a 10% increase postdivorce.
Divorced women receive economic pressure to enter the job market but only a small percentage continue to work as 70% of women remarry.
A study on divorced women in 1971-1976 compared individual benefits of divorced women, married women, and women who never remarry. Divorced women on average had higher individual benefits. The average initial Social Security retirement benefit for divorced women is $875, for those who never remarried was $911, while married women generally receive $756.
Divorce is one of the few exceptions allowing an individual to retrieve retirement funds without penalties. Due to early access to retirement funds, Social Security retirement benefits are less likely to be claimed by divorced women at age 62. Although divorced women earn a greater income during their working lives, married women collect more in Social Security benefits.
Related: Contested and Uncontested Divorce: The Difference
Housing
On average, women are more financially dependent on their spouses. When divorced, women may experience loss of housing security.
If the spouses who own their house divorce, retrieving ownership may require buying the interest of the ex-partner. Providing for a mortgage can be unaffordable for most women, therefore divorced women usually experience a decrease in household income.
Related: How to Prepare for Divorce As a Stay-At-Home Mom
Health
Studies on the health and well-being of spouses post-divorce concluded women are better able to adapt. For men, divorce provides a higher risk in the decline of health, higher risk of mortality, and a decline in life satisfaction.
Women are often more aware of marital issues and invest more into the marriage. Feelings of hopeless effort to hold a marriage together causes women to initiate a divorce. In these situations, women are able to process the decision of a divorce while men are taken by surprise, thus causing men more distress.
Social
Both men and women equally experience greater social participation post-divorce. Meaning both experience more positive social behaviours such as frequency to communicate with family and friends. The liberation hypothesis acknowledges why divorce can increase the need for social support. The idea of liberation states the increase of social interactions after a divorce is to compensate for the loss of the main source of social interaction.
The isolation hypothesis discussed the withdrawal from particular social interactions. Divorce may cause a disruption in shared social networks and activities. The loss of a partner can cause a withdrawal from social interactions shared as a couple due to a lack of interest to continue without the ex-partner. There are resources available to cope with a transition as overwhelming as divorce.
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