A divorce will change your standard of living, but women pay a higher price than men in this area. Married couples get financial perks like shared costs–one phone bill, shared utilities, housing costs, etc. After a divorce, these costs are no longer split so expenses rise for both parties. On top of that, it’s estimated that women’s income drops by 20-40% after a divorce.1 So not only are they balancing higher expenses, but they also have a lower budget.
This is even worse for women who don’t work or earn significantly less than their former spouses because they rely on support payments as their main source of income. Census data shows that only 44% of custodial parents received the full amount due of child support2 and women make up 93% of parents receiving child support payments.3 While child support is only one form of income, the numbers tell us that women–especially non-working women–face an uphill battle just to get what they’re owed.
When it’s all said and done, 22% of recently divorced women live in poverty4 and 30% of custodial mothers live in poverty.5 This is almost double the poverty rate for divorced men and custodial fathers.
This is why Divorce Analysis advocates for maintaining our client’s standard of living post-divorce. Your divorce is already a huge burden on yourself and your family, we want to bear some of the financial burdens by strategizing for your best outcome. We’ve developed tools and resources to help you at whatever stage of divorce you’re at.