Grey divorce has significant financial impact on women claims researcher
LONDON: Grey divorce has a significant financial impact on women claims a new research paper. Gail Cocksedge has an enviable retirement — she lives in a waterfront apartment on the Gold Coast and leads a busy social life, frequently catching up with family and friends.
“I’ve got a beautiful little nest of people around me that I just absolutely adore,” the 73-year-old said.
Ms Cocksedge said she had been single for the past 40 years and had never been happier.
“I don’t feel lonely,” she said. “I like my own company.
“I like to sit at home and watch Netflix sometimes.”
But she said her life hadn’t always been smooth sailing.
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Ms Cocksedge said her husband left her with three young children when she was 32.
She said she had stayed home to care for them, so when the assets were split she was “basically left with nothing”.
“I was also one of those women who wasn’t proactive in our financial side of life,” she said.
Ms Cocksedge said her husband had only been paying the interest on their mortgage, and the business they were partners in left her in financial debt.
Ms Cocksedge worked odd jobs — folding jumpers at a knitwear factory, ironing and cleaning — just to make ends meet while studying beginner computer courses at TAFE part-time.
She was eventually able to buy her own home at 45 and worked as an operations manager for an international jewellery company.
Ms Cocksedge said she credited her success to the support she received along the way.
But she said things would have been much harder if she got divorced later in life.
Figures show she is right.
The rate of what has been dubbed grey divorce — the separation of couples usually aged over 50 from long-lasting marriages — is on the rise in Australia.
Monash University sociologist Barbara Barbosa Neves said women were more likely to be pushed below the poverty line after a grey divorce.
“Older women are more likely to have worked part-time while raising children and dealing with care responsibilities, or not have worked at all, which affects their pensions and their superannuation,” Dr Neves said.
According to research from the University of Melbourne, separation can reduce a man’s disposable household income by 5 per cent.
For women, it’s closer to 30 per cent.
Younger women are least vulnerable to poverty after a separation because they would be expected to make an easier return to employment and have more time to regain their financial footing, according to the research.
It found women with young children experienced poverty immediately after a separation, but the effect dropped off relatively quickly.
The financial impact of divorce for older women could linger for decades.
Housing for the Aged Action Group executive officer Fiona York said older women were the fastest growing cohort of homeless people in the country.
The advocacy group assists people aged 50 years and over who are experiencing financial hardship or housing stress.
“Many of these women are facing housing stress and homelessness in later life, often for the first time and often it’s because of some life shock which has put them into this position — and very often it’s divorce or separation,” Ms York said.
Private wealth adviser Matt Rencken said women tended to lose out in a divorce settlement because they were less likely to be involved in the family finances.
“What we’ve seen quite a lot of is that a husband has gone off and taken the super balance, business interest and shares as his settlement and left the family home with the mum,” Mr Rencken said.
“She’s not generating any wealth and their only option is to sell … and try and downsize, which is always quite challenging, because property markets have rallied a lot and it’s hard to then find something to downsize into and release up enough cash to live off.”
He said he encouraged all couples to take an active role in their finances in case their relationship broke down.
Dr Neves said creating strong social relationships was also key to overcoming the challenges of divorce.
“Loneliness and social isolation create a lot of negative effects in our health, but also in our wellbeing and sense of life,” she said.
“So it’s important to also have in mind the need to protect oneself … and that, of course, requires reaching out to people around us that can provide meaningful companionship and support.”
Ms Cocksedge said she offered the same advice to her granddaughters.
“If you put yourself out there and you take responsibility for yourself and you don’t sit and cry … just get up, get off your bum, get dressed, get out and seize the day,” she said.
