Gender and the Economic Consequences of Divorce in the United States: Variation by Race and Ethnicity

Gender differences in the economic consequences of divorce are well established and reveal how a traditional gender-based division of paid and unpaid labor can render women economically vulnerable when marriages dissolve. Guided by intersectional approaches that recognize systemic racism and entrenc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of family and economic issues 2024-12, Vol.45 (4), p.800-818
Main Authors: Smock, Pamela J., Tzoc, Kristen, Carr, Deborah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Black people
Black white differences
Disruption
Dissolution
Divorce
Economic change
Economic impact
Economic status
Economic well being
Economic wellbeing
Economics
Ethnicity
Family
Gender
Gender differences
Gender inequality
Intersectionality
Marital disruption
Marriage
Men
Original Paper
Personality and Social Psychology
Race
Racial differences
Social Policy
Social Sciences
Sociology
Systemic racism
Unpaid
Well being
Women
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Summary:Gender differences in the economic consequences of divorce are well established and reveal how a traditional gender-based division of paid and unpaid labor can render women economically vulnerable when marriages dissolve. Guided by intersectional approaches that recognize systemic racism and entrenched gender inequality, we assess how race/ethnicity and gender intersect to pattern the economic consequences of divorce. Drawing on 28 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), we conduct a descriptive analysis of the short-term economic impact of marital disruption for non-Hispanic Black women and men, Hispanic women and men, and non-Hispanic White women and men. Our bivariate and multivariable results indicate that the economic consequences of marital disruption vary substantially on the basis of race/ethnicity and gender. All groups of women fare worse than men in post-dissolution economic wellbeing and in changes in economic status. Black and Hispanic men and the three groups of women fare worse than White men, with Black women experiencing the highest levels of economic precarity.
ISSN:1058-0476
1573-3475
DOI:10.1007/s10834-023-09940-w