This study analyzes Weitzman's suggestion that men and women lose economic well-being in the first year after divorce. Family incomes of divorced women and men are compared with their married counterparts for five SES categories. Using t-tests, it was found that, for most categories, for both genders, incomes of divorced persons were lower than incomes of married persons. Family incomes were regressed against a set of four control variables and a marital status variable. The marital status variable was statistically significant for four of the five SES categories for females. This was not true for males.
Policy implications are considered. [Article copies available for a fie fmm i'i'te Haworth Docurnent Delive~y Sentice:
1-800-342-9678. E-mail addr~ss: getinJo@haworth.com]It is generally accepted that divorce demands psychological, social, and economic adjustments, among many. At the personal adjustment level, a number of studies indicate that divorce appears to be related to lower psychological well-being for those involved (Tcheng-Laroche and Prince, 1983). This tends to hold whether reference is made to relatively mild levels of anxiety (Wallerstein and Blakeslee, 1990);