- Research out today from Finland suggests women may find it harder to adjust to later-life divorce and break-ups than men.
- But it’s too simplistic to say women experience poorer mental health or tend to be less happy after divorce than men.
Remind me, how common is divorce?
- More couple are choosing to co-habitate, instead of marry, and the majority of couples live together prior to marriage.
- Divorce statistics don’t include separations of cohabiting couples, even though they are more likely than married couples to separate.
- The median age of divorce increased from 45.9 in 2021 to 46.7 in 2022 for men and from 43.0 to 43.7 for women.
The trend of late divorces also reflects people deciding to marry later in life. The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2022 was around 12.8 years and has remained fairly constant over the past decade.
Why do couples get divorced?
What did the new study find?
- The study tracked antidepressant use in Finns aged 50 to 70 for four years before their relationship breakdown and four years after.
- They found antidepressant use increased in the four years leading to the relationship break-up in both genders.
- Within a year of the break-up, antidepressant use fell back to the level it was 12 months before the break-up.
The researchers also looked at antidepressant use after re-partnering. There was a decline in the use of antidepressants for men and women after starting a new relationship. But this decline was short-lived for women.
But there’s more to the story
- For instance, data suggesting women experience depression more often than men is generally based on the rate of diagnoses and antidepressant use, which does not account for undiagnosed and unmedicated people.
- This is also the case in Australia, where in 2020–2022, 21.6% of women saw a health professional for their mental health, compared with only 12.9% of men.
Why women might struggle more after separating
- This is particularly the case for women with young children and older women.
- So what factors might explain why women might experience greater difficulties after divorce later in life?
- Research investigating the financial consequences of grey divorce in men and women showed women experienced a 45% decline in their standard of living (measured by an income-to-needs ratio), whereas men’s dropped by just 21%.
- These declines persisted over time for men, and only reversed for women following re-partnering.
Separation can be positive
For some people, divorce or separation can lead to increased happiness and feeling more independent. And the mental health impact and emotional distress of a relationship dissolution is something that can be counterattacked with resilience. Resilience to dramatic events built from life experience means older adults often do respond better to emotional distress and might be able to adjust better to divorce than their younger counterparts.
Raquel Peel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
