Since women are the ones who undergo a lot of emotional turmoil during and after the divorce process, they are at a bigger risk of settling for an unfair financial settlement. As a woman, you may be tempted to get over and done with the divorce process as soon as possible so as to put an end to the bitter trauma that you may be experiencing. However, doing so can have disastrous consequences. It is common for women to slip below the poverty line after divorce. Since women are financially vulnerable after divorce, they need to be over-cautious about their finances during and after divorce.

Why Are Women Financially Vulnerable After Divorce?

Women mostly tend to assume the role of a caretaker in a marriage. Therefore, it is common for women to sacrifice their careers in order to take care of their home and family. It is only when divorce is in the offing that women realise that the decision to quit their high-rising careers was a big mistake.

Divorce brings with a lot of changes; you may have to leave your marital home and your financial status may not remain what it used to be. Looking for a new house can be challenging especially if you have children. You may want your children to live in the same neighbourhood to ensure that they still feel close to their friends and familiar surroundings but doing so may mean shelling out more money if the neighbourhood is an expensive one.

If you have been a stay-at-home mom, you may have look for another job to support yourself. If you have children and you are the custodial parent, the task at hand can be tougher. You will have to ensure that your new job not only supports your lifestyle but also that of your children. Many women have no clue about how to take care of monthly finances or yearly savings. Since women rarely involve themselves in financial planning sessions with their husbands, they are more likely to feel financially vulnerable after divorce.

Why Do Many Women Slip Below Poverty Line?

Recent studies have proved that as many as 53.4% of the single mothers with children are below the poverty line. In addition, studies also prove that while men tend to experience only a 10% drop in incomes post-divorce, women are likely to experience as much as 30% drop in income after divorce.

The main reason for this is that when women tend to start their careers after taking a long break from their careers, they do not get hired for highly skilled jobs. In addition, many single custodial mothers can only afford to take up part-time work because the cost of child-care far outweighs the benefits of a fulltime job.

Financial Tips to Make Ends Meet

• If you have no idea about financial planning, it would make sense to gain some knowledge about basic financial planning. For this, you need not enrol yourself in a costly course; researching the Internet is a cost-effective way to gain knowledge on this subject. Research about your savings options such as ISAs, allowances such as jobseeker’s allowance, and basic state pension schemes.

• Make sure that you claim all the benefits that you are entitled to. If you are on low income and want to stay in your marital home rather than anywhere else, the housing benefit scheme in the UK can be very helpful. This scheme can help you towards making your mortgage interest payments when you have a low income stream.

• If you would like to stay in a rental house, you may be eligible for a rent allowance or rent rebate. You will need to contact your local council to get more details about this allowance. Your local council or Citizens Advice Bureau will also be able to assist you if you do not have a home or cannot afford a home.
• You would need to make sure that you claim your full state benefits that you may be entitled to. These may include but are not limited to winter fuel payments, pension credit, and council tax benefit. Single mothers are also entitled to tax credits and costs related to childcare.