Family Law News Edinburgh

For advice on all aspects of family law, please contact us today.

Women & Children Suffer Most After Divorce & Partnership Breakdown

Professor Mike Brewer and Dr Alita Nandi at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex has found that the living standards of children and their mothers fall below that of their fathers following separation.

The study, named "Partnership Dissolution: how does it affect income, employment and well-being?", examined the income, employment pattern, housing, mental health and life satisfaction, using data from 18 periods of the British Household Panel Survey (1991-2008) which is a survey that interviews a 5,000 nationally-representative sample of the population.  The Partnership Dissolution study collated this data and compared comprehensively the change in results during the years following the separation of a couple.

The findings have proven that around 15 per cent of mothers and 19 per cent of children fall into relative poverty upon separation, higher than the figures for men post-separation.  What's more, surprisingly even couples who separate over the age of 50 and whose children are grown-up, the women post-separation still see their living standards fall by more than their formal male partners, with almost a third of these women falling into relative poverty.

Previous research has found that one of the reasons men come out financially better is because after separation they move in with other adults, resulting in little impact in their household net income, while most women post-separation will live alone.

As Professor Brewer explained: ""Women continue to see living standards fall by more after separation than men, especially when children are involved, but even for couples with no children.  Mothers and children from high-income families see especially large drops in living standards, because the loss of the man's earnings is in no way compensated for by higher income from alimony, child maintenance, benefits and tax credits, and having fewer mouths to feed".

The gender differential, however, was not found with regards to mental health and life satisfaction: both men and women return to pre-split levels soon after the separation, suggesting no link between these factors with income and finances.

In the UK today, 69 per cent of children live with both parents, yet this places us fourth worst in the developed world in family breakdown rates behind Belgium, Estonia and Latvia, according to the latest OECD figures.  Taking that alongside the University research then, it seems essential that policy makers must find new ways to support families following a separation, to prevent the gender related poverty gap post-separation between men and women, with or without children.

Contact Family Law Edinburgh - Divorce and Partnership Breakdown in Edinburgh

For divorce and partnership breakdown advice or for specialist family law advice on another issue, click here to complete our enquiry form. You can also call us on 0131 208 1608.

Pre-nuptial Agreements & Adultery Clauses
Same Sex Marriage - Bringing Marriage Into the Spo...

Enquire now

Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input
Invalid Input

Please tick the box below

Invalid Input

nla