There is mixed evidence as to whether the effects of divorce on household income and the risk of poverty are short-lived or persistent. Findings suggest that the answer to this question depends on national context (e.g., Andreß et al. 2006; Leopold 201
. For example, de Vaus and colleagues (2017) demonstrate using CNEF data that divorce had substantial and negative effects on women’s household income in the short term. In the medium term, there was no evidence of recovery in the US and South Korea, whereas women recovered very quickly in Switzerland. Using Danish register data, Hussain and Kangas (2005) showed that women’s household incomes initially decreased by over 50 percent, but subsequently recovered between 8.5-13.5 percent per year up to eight years following divorce. Leopold’s (201
analyses using the German Socio- Economic Panel indicated persistent impact on both women’s household incomes and poverty risk.
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In the year of divorce, the incomes of both women with and without children in the household dropped by roughly 60 percent.
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The short-term change in household income following divorce is similar for childless women and mothers with one and two children (see panel A of Figure 3). For these women, household incomes initially dropped by roughly 60 percent. However, the household incomes of women with three or more children decreased by approximately 70 percent. This translated into a sharp increase in the difference in the economic wellbeing of mothers with three or more children and childless women (see panel B of Figure 3). While the household incomes of women with many children were circa 30 percent lower than the household incomes of childless women one year prior to divorce, that differences increased by to 50 percent in the year of divorce. However, while childless women’s incomes stay stagnant in the years following divorce, women with three or more children do recuperate to a small degree from approximately 70 percent to 65 percent relative to one year prior to divorce. Women with one or two children also recuperate to a small degree.
