The latest report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) shows that Australia’s divorce rate has dropped to its lowest level since the mid-70s with just 2.3 divorces per 1,000 in 2023 compared to 6.3 at its peak in 1976.
At first glance it might seem like a positive trend, but a closer look reveals a picture that is far more complicated.
While the perception of divorce and divorcees has come a long way, women have historically carried, and continue to carry, the burden of the heavy social stigma associated with marriage breakdown. Women are also the ones most likely to be financially bereft following a divorce.
How divorced women were treated throughout history
From the 19th and the early 20th centuries, divorced women were excluded from social circles and were left without financial support. Divorce itself was extremely difficult to obtain for most of the population, and close to impossible for women. While men could divorce their wives for adultery in Victorian England, women had to provide proof of adultery and another transgression such as cruelty, incest, or desertion.
Laws overwhelmingly favoured men and women would frequently lose custody of their children and be left destitute as few women worked outside the home. Similarly, from the mid-20th century, divorce was considered to be a ruinous event in the countries which allowed it and would once again leave women judged, shamed, and financially and socially vulnerable.
Leading up to the introduction of no-fault divorce in 1976, the year when marriage dissolutions peaked, women were in a much better position to fend for themselves. Though more were in the workforce and financially independent, the stigma of divorce remained. Divorced women were viewed with suspicion and even regarded as a threat to married women. In pop culture they were often painted as pitiable, lonely, or desperate for remarriage.
Divorced women today
While divorce has become more common and more normalised in modern society, women still continue to disproportionately carry the stigma of a relationship breakdown. Examples include ongoing assertions that women are receiving half of everything belonging to the man, and separated women often being labeled callous ‘gold diggers’, demonstrate that women continue to experience a divorce penalty both socially and financially.
AIFS studies show that divorced women’s standards of living fall significantly as “women and children are more likely than men to experience financial hardship after divorce; and repartnering remains a key way out of financial difficulties for many divorced women (and their children)”. At every stage in life, women are more likely to be financially disadvantaged after divorce. Divorce and separation often leads to homelessness for the woman, including for older women who are the fastest growing demographic of homeless in Australia.
Women who have spent time out of the workforce to raise their families,are often left very vulnerable in the event of a marriage breakdown. In light of these facts, when examining the low divorce rate of 2.3 per 1000 people, we must consider the social and economic context that accompanies the numbers.
Stigma about blended families, second marriages, and de facto relationships has reduced and these circumstances have become more of a societal norm. Fewer Australians are getting married and the average age of those getting married has increased. Women are more independent than ever and are expecting more equality from their relationships.
Meanwhile, international studies show that divorce rates have either plateaued or declined across much of the developed world from the US to Sweden and Denmark which were both once seen as “divorce capitals”.
Yet fewer divorces does not necessarily equate to happier marriages. Like much of the world, Australia has a crisis of housing affordability. Economic pressures like inflation, stagnating wages, increased cost of living, and the sheer cost of separation present high barriers to leaving a marriage. Domestic, family and sexual violence is prevalent. Like their predecessors, countless women are staying in harmful, unsafe and unfulfilling relationships often because they feel that they have no other option to stay and they cannot afford to leave. We know that separation can be the most dangerous time for a woman when escaping an unsafe relationship.
The true cost of divorce for women
Many assume the price of divorce is solely related to the cost of retaining family lawyers. But an underfunded court system with an ongoing backlog, amid a housing crisis and the soaring cost of living, is deterring couples from braving a split. Studies consistently show that women’s household incomes fall by 29 per cent after divorce, while men’s fall by five per cent. Men’s incomes are also less likely to be pushed below the poverty line.
Because women are more likely to have interrupted careers due to child-rearing, they tend to have lower superannuation pension balances, experience fewer promotions, and have less career capital. Post-divorce men typically remain in full-time work, while women who are more likely to be primary caregivers, may have to juggle part-time work with childcare responsibilities.
Divorce can mean freedom for women escaping unsafe and harmful relationships, but the system still leaves them worse off than men. Separated women may lose their income, housing stability, and retirement security which shows that while the stigma of divorce has reduced, the inequity of divorce still falls hardest on women. Women are often left with inadequate support for themselves and their children to heal and recover from trauma that they have experienced.
We must recognise that the falling divorce rate does not always signal good news but could be seen as a systemic barrier for those who would otherwise leave. It is vital that we act to lessen the impacts of divorce on women and provide more support for those leaving unsafe and unhappy relationships. It is essential that services are adequately funded by the government to support women in their most vulnerable times.
Until these legal, financial, and housing barriers are addressed, the low divorce rate could be seen as a warning sign rather than the good news it looks to be on the surface.