Washington: Divorce is expensive, and researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis quantified some of the losses.
After separation, men's incomes on average drop 17 per cent while they decline 9 per cent for women, researchers said in a blog post Monday.
Employed people who went through a divorce in the past 12 months saw a 12 per cent cut in income, earning less than peers who didn't go through a divorce.
Among married men "- who tend to earn more than other workers "- the youngest pay the highest financial penalty, with those around 28 years old slammed with a 43 per cent decline in income following divorce, the data showed. For women, the worst age to separate is near their 65th birthday, which can lead to a 57 per cent drop in income.
The reasons behind the dip aren't clear, said Guillaume Vandenbroucke, an economist at the St. Louis Fed. The data covers income specifically, not overall wealth.
"Why do recently divorced workers earn less than the others? One possibility is these individuals change their work patterns: Either they work fewer hours or they work different, lower-paying jobs," he said in the note.
