Divorce early or divorce late? The long-term financial consequences.

Abstract

We use data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (Understanding Society) to examine income, housing and wealth for those who divorce in England and Wales. We consider variation between different generations and examine how circumstances at divorce, the year of divorce, and re-partnering behaviour post-divorce affect our results. We find that women in all cohorts have lower household income if divorced, but that men’s household income does not suffer. Men and women in all cohorts have lower housing wealth if they have divorced. Remarriage is an important pathway for recovery.