AMP.NATSEM’s report, Divorce: For Richer, For Poorer finds that overall, divorced women are worse off than both divorced men, and married women.
- A divorced woman has assets valued at 90 per cent less than a married woman (all other things being equal). These differences are largely caused by the difference in assets held in the form of house ownership and superannuation.
- Females who are newly divorced have non-property debt levels 2.3 times those incurred by married women and three times those owed by divorced men. This could be because divorced women struggle to meet everyday costs with a reduced household income.
- Home ownership rates drop by 16 per cent for women who divorce and 9 per cent for men, largely through the sale of joint property. Even though people who have divorced re-invest in the housing market, levels of home-ownership five years after divorce are still 85 per cent of those married couple
- A male with no dependent children who has been divorced one to four years has 28 per cent less superannuation than a married male with similar characteristics and a divorced female has 75 per cent less superannuation than a married female from the same socio-economic background.
