Ending a marriage can have significant financial consequences for anyone, yet some parties tend to suffer from this much more than others. One report published last year found that women see a household income drop roughly double that of men.
According to the study, even though women typically work more after a divorce than they did before, they still struggle to reach parity of income with men. This is no surprise, considering the gender pay gap in many industries and careers.
The effect of the unequal sharing of unpaid duties
While some married couples share household duties equally and sometimes the man stays home while the woman goes to work, women as a whole take on a greater share of these unpaid duties. These can include caring for children or elderly relatives, as well as cooking and cleaning, among other things.
The effect on post-divorce income is twofold. First, women may not have gone as far in their career (and therefore up the pay scale) while married, making earning an equivalent income to their ex-husband more difficult, even if they can now dedicate more hours to work.
Second, women often retain a greater share of child-raising after the divorce. This can leave them unable to put in as many hours at work as their ex-husband can.
The result is that women are at around twice the risk of being in poverty after they divorce. If this occurs, it won’t just affect them. It will affect any children they have, too. It shows why having experienced legal guidance to pursue an appropriate settlement is so important.