The Evolving Economic Consequences of Divorce

Timothy A. Roeper, CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR) and Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
Neil G. Bennett, CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR)

There is already ample evidence that the economic effects of divorce can differ significantly between the sexes. While many studies have examined the relative economic impact of divorce on men and women, none of them, to our knowledge, has studied it over a long time frame, and none of the U.S. studies has examined the question in the most recent decade. The social norms that historically governed the relative specializations of men and women were by no means universal, and they have shifted considerably over the last few decades. Our study aims to measure how the relative economic impact of divorce on men and women has changed over the last 40 years, and how it differs across demographic groups with different evolving norms regarding the roles of men and women in marriage.