If you are used to living on two incomes because you’re married, getting divorced is going to reduce your household earnings. You’ll have to learn how to live off of one income. But just how dire may things get? Could the divorce have a seriously negative financial impact?
It may. According to one study, when looking at women who put in applications to get welfare, a full 75 percent of them had “disrupted relationships.” In many cases, that meant a broken marriage, though some of the applications just indicated that the two people had lived with one another outside of a legal marriage.
The point is simple: When two people are used to being in a committed relationship and it ends, whether it is a marriage or not, it can often put at least one person into a financial situation where they simply do not have enough to even meet their basic needs.
The same study also indicated that about half of the families in America that go through a divorce will “experience poverty” at some point in the future. This is not hard to imagine. If two people are barely able to make ends meet while working two jobs, for instance, ending that marriage likely means that neither one has adequate financial means.
After all, bills do not get completely cut in half. Instead of one home for both people, they now need one home for each. When a couple separates, their overall financial obligations increase, but their income does not.
If you are thinking about divorce, it is very important to understand what options you have and how you can work toward a successful financial future.