The percentage of families headed by lone mothers rose from 9% to around 20% in the United States from 1960 to 1987 (Smock, 1993). In 1996, this figure stood at approximately 26% (Staat & Wagenhals, 1996). At the same time, there has been a shift in the composition of these lone mothers from widows to divorced or never-married women. Along with these great increases in lone motherhood, there also came a rise in the poverty level of this particular cohort and their children. In 1990, the poverty rate among lone mothers had reached 55% (Staat & Wagenhals, 1996). With these facts at hand, it is easy to see why there has been an increasing focus on the economic effects that divorce has on women. Unfortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that divorce leads to a lower standard of living and a higher poverty level for women, while men improve in both of these respects. In this way, one can conclude that the decline of the family, either through divorce or through never being married, is not beneficial to the well-being of women as a population.
As a result of years of research on this topic, it is now well-established that divorce and/or separation leads to a dramatic decline in the well-being of women and children in the United States. This decline can be seen in multiple facets of living. First, the mother is most often the parent who retains custody of the child or children from the marriage. Thus, the woman still has a family to provide for. If she wants to keep working after the divorce, as well as take care of the children, she needs to find appropriate forms of day care for her children. Daycare is not only costly, but it is also difficult to find a center that is suitable to the mother’s liking. During this time period where they are searching for daycare, women are able to work fewer hours at a job, and thus are bringing in less of an income (Staat & Wagenhals, 1996). This contributes to the decline in the economic well-being of these lone mothers and their children.
Another factor having to do with the custody of children is the devastating problem in the United States of fathers not paying child support. Only one-third of American women report having received private transfers from the father of their children in the year after a divorce (Burkhauser, Duncan, Hauser, & Berntsen, 1991). This not only detracts from the economic well-being of the woman, but also increases the economic status of the father. While the father’s standard of living is increasing, the mother’s standard of living only continues to decrease with every month that she does not receive child support.
In addition to the continuing economic demands that children place on lone mothers, there is a significant decline in the woman’s income after a divorce. This is partially due to the fact that they may only be able to work a limited number of hours due to increased demands associated with childcare. More importantly, the family income for a lone mother decreases drastically, with estimates of decreases ranging from 30-55% for women (Smock, 1993). In contrast to these numbers for U.S. women, statistics tell us that the family income for men falls only 15%. Family income is the amount of income for the entire household. This falls for women after a divorce because women typically do not make wages that are as high as men in any particular job. Therefore, even if a woman works more hours than she did prior to the divorce, she will likely still have a much smaller income than her former husband.
When we look at both the issue of childcare and the fall in income for women, we see another downward trend for women following a divorce. This is in the realm of size-adjusted family income. This measurement of income takes into account both the actual amount of income in the household as well as the number of people who are dependent upon these wages. When we look at these numbers, we see that women’s size-adjusted family income falls by nearly 24%, while this figure actually rises by approximately 3% for men (Burkhauser et al., 1991). These numbers distinctly indicate that the economic well-being of women drastically declines, while the exact opposite may be true for men. This is partially due to the fact that women have primary responsibility for taking care of the children following a divorce or separation.
Other indicators that the decline of the family is not a good thing for women are measurements of poverty and standard of living. It has been found that poverty rates among mother-only families are indisputably high. For example, in 1987, almost one half of all women and children in this situation lived below the poverty line. In contrast, only 9% of intact families were defined as being below the poverty line (Smock, 1993). In addition, estimates indicate that the standard of living experienced by women drops by as much as 37% at the time of divorce (Gray, 1996). In comparison, nearly one half of divorced men experience an increase in their standard of living following a divorce (Burkhauser et al., 1991).
The economic toll on divorced women is oftentimes not a short-lived experience. This is especially true if the children in the family are young and the mother needs to continue providing for them for many years following the divorce. Research indicates that lone mothers who are employed (particularly if they are trying to provide for a family) are more likely to remain a lone mother for longer than if she was not employed (Staat & Wagenhals, 1996). Also, poorer families are more likely to continue longer with a lone parent. Therefore, in both of these cases, a vicious cycle starts to form. A woman works in order to have enough income to provide for her family. However, this decreases her chances of remarrying (which is the predominant way to end lone motherhood). On the other hand, if she does not work, in hopes of remarrying, she will have low (or no) income, thus increasing her chances of remaining a lone parent. In both situations, the economic well-being of both the mother and children will be compromised in a way that was not possible before the divorce.
One type of divorce that has potential devastating effects on women is the no-fault divorce. In this type of divorce, there is no blame and the decision to separate is mutual between husband and wife. However, there are two reasons why this type of divorce may be especially detrimental to women. First, because having no-fault policies makes the grounds for obtaining a divorce easier, the divorce rate will increase. Since we have already seen that divorce lowers the economic status of women, we can conclude that this will only be exacerbated in the entire female population if the number of divorces granted rises with the advent of no-fault legislation. Second, some studies have already shown that no-fault divorce laws reduce the size and frequency of alimony rewards, thus directly contributing to the impoverishment of women and children.
For example, in California, after the implementation of no-fault divorce laws, the number of wives awarded support fell by 32%. The amount of money awarded to the wives also dropped by nearly 19% (Gray, 1996). A large asset to receive in a divorce settlement is the house. This study also found that women were more likely to be awarded possession of the house before the no-fault statutes were implemented. A study conducted by Weitzman indicated that in California, after the implementation of the no-fault divorce laws, women’s standard of living decreased by as much as 72%, while men’s standard of living increased by 42%. This is a huge discrepancy between the sexes, much greater than the difference we saw in general data prior to any no-fault divorce statutes being in place. While this data certainly indicates that no-fault divorce statutes have a particularly negative economic impact on women, the overall body of evidence in this area is yet inconclusive. One fact remains clear, however: women’s economic status definitely falls following a divorce, no matter on what terms the divorce was granted.
Some people in the United States believe that the negative economic impact that divorce has on women has decreased over the years due to increased female participation in the labor force. With an increase in participation, there logically follows an increase in income for women as a whole. Therefore, a study was conducted by Pamela Smock (1993), in which two cohorts of women were studied. The first cohort included women who divorced during the 1960’s and 1970’s, while the second cohort consisted of women who divorced during the 1980’s. Women’s labor force participation has increased steadily since the 1960’s, so these three decades are prime indicators of the economic status of women with this characteristic.
This study relies on the fact that most of the economic support of divorced women comes from their own earnings. Therefore, it follows that higher levels of work experience, education, labor force participation, and wages would all lead to an increased level of economic well-being following a divorce. If this is true, then the women in the later cohort would be better off economically directly after a divorce. However, the study indicates that the amount of family income declines post-divorce is relatively equal for both cohorts of women. Therefore, the author concludes that women in the later cohort do not actually fare better post-divorce than those in the earlier cohort. In fact, in both cohorts, the average income for the women is alarmingly low: a mere $9,000 for the earlier cohort and $11,000 for the later cohort. From the results of this study, it is clear that programs must be implemented in order to help divorced women economically. Their increasing participation in the labor force alone is not improving their own and their family’s economic well-being to an adequate extent.
In order to alleviate some of the economic problems associated with divorce, some people in the United States advocate adopting a European-style social program following divorce. One particular study looked at the program that was established in Germany to aid in increasing the economic well-being of divorced women (Burkhauser et al., 1991). In this program, income transfers guarantee a minimum income to all citizens, regardless of their living arrangement, with cash benefits often targeted at families who are raising children. Thus, this more extensive program of social welfare is thought to decrease the sex-based economic inequalities that are found after separation or divorce.
The situation in Germany for men and women both pre- and post-divorce is similar to the situation in the United States. Mothers are more likely to care for the children after a divorce in both countries. Germany also suffers from a lack of enforcement of child-support payments. Men are more likely to participate in the labor force and earn more income than women both before and after a divorce. Because these characteristics are similar for both countries, it is ideal to compare their two programs aimed at dealing with the issue of the economic well-being of women after a divorce.
The results indicate that, even with the more extensive social welfare system in Germany, the inequalities between women and men after a divorce are just as great as in the United States. In fact, the standard of living for women in Germany was actually lower than it was in the United States following a divorce. Therefore, the authors conclude that despite the more elaborate system of public transfers that is present in Germany, the country seems just as able (or even less able) than the United States to protect women from the devastating economic consequences of divorce.
Therefore, it can be concluded that an extremely extensive program must be implemented in order to alleviate the economic problems faced by women in the United States following divorce. Some improvements that could be made are: increases in women’s wages, public policies to support child-rearing activities, affordable child care, and enforcement of alimony payments by the divorced husband. Unless a program can be established that includes all of these aspects, and guarantees women a respectable standard of living following a divorce, lone mothers and their children will continue to live in poverty. Thus, it can easily be seen that the decline of the American family is not good for the economic status of women.
Pamela J. Smock, "The Economic Costs of Marital Disruption for Young
Women Over the Past Two Decades", Demography, Vol. 30, No. 3,
August 1993, pp. 353-372.
Richard V. Burkhauser, Gregg J. Duncan, Richard Hauser and Roland Berntsen, "Wife or Frau, Women Do Worse: A Comparison of Men and Women in the United States and Germany Following Marital Dissolution", Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3, August 1991.
Jeffrey S. Gray, "The Economic Impact of Divorce Law Reform", in Population Research and Policy Review, Vol. 15, June 1996, pp. 275-296.
Matthias Staat and Gerhard Wagenhals; "Lone Mothers: A Review", Journal of Population Economics, Vol. 9, 1996, pp. 131-140