The survey, conducted by Professor Stephen Jenkins, a director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, was the first to track the financial outcomes of divorce among British couples. Jenkins combined data from British Household Panel Surveys from 1991 to 2004 with European surveys and calculated the divorced couples' incomes before and after divorce. The Independent reports that after a divorce, the incomes of ex-husbands rose by 25 percent, while ex-wives incomes fell sharply. 27 percent of the women in the survey wound up living in poverty, three times the rate of the ex-husbands.

"This is not so much a gender thing as a parent thing," said Jenkins. "The key differences are not between men and women but between fathers and mothers." Fathers' fare even better than childless men, with their incomes increasing by more than a third post-divorce, even though they should have the added burden of child support payments. But the survey found that mothers usually end up taking on all of the financial burden of children. Kids usually stay with the mother and only 31 percents of fathers actually make maintenance payments for their children.

Women are also far more likely to have interrupted their careers to care for children during a marriage. In 80 percent of families it's the mother who stays home to care for the children, often interrupting her career, according to divorce lawyer Karen Moores. 'Even in professional couples this is still the norm and once they split up it is difficult to change the roles they have taken on," Moores told the Daily Mail. "He still has the income while she's still at home or working part-time to care for the children." The study found that if women had worked throughout their relationship the divorce would have significantly less impact on their income. Remarrying could have a slight positive increase in a woman's finances, while the only time men's incomes decreased was when they remarried and had children while making payments to their first wives.

Professor John Ermisch, author of An Economic Analysis of the Family and Lone Parenthood told The Guardian that he agrees that women have a harder time financially after divorce, but said the gender disparity is getting better. "The proportion of women with dependent children who stop working after a marital split has almost halved between the late 1990s and early 2000s, from 16% to 9%," said Ermish. In Britain, the number of women working when they divorced has also increased from around 66 percent in the 1990s to 74% in 2002. Though more women are staying financially stable by working continuously throughout their relationship, this just means they are more likely to become single working mothers, and still face a much bigger struggle following divorce than their ex-husbands.

[Image via ImageAfter]

Why Divorce Makes Women The Poorer Sex [The Independent]
For Richer Or Poorer: Why Divorce Makes Men Wealthier — But Women Are Left Worse Off [The Daily Mail]
Men Become Richer After Divorce [The Guardian]

Motherhood is part of the reason there's a pay gap, of course. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber says women are "paying an unacceptable penalty simply for having children." And guess what? It's hard to have a kid without the involvement of a man at some point. Men want women who make less, then the women suffer financially when they become mothers.

In a recent issue of Star, the celeb tabloid put together a list of couples where the breadwinning lady is the one bringing in more dough: Gwen and Gavin, Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelly, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, Julia Roberts and Danny Moder, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubrey, Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman. But when we posted a story called "Dudes Don't Mind If A Lady Brings Home The Bacon," one commenter wrote, "Am I the ONLY one who would feel weird earning more than my boyfriend?" Around here? In an informal poll of the ladies working for this site? Yes.

In this day and age, what sense does it make? What about your worth? Let's say you make less than your man and then you get promoted. Would you turn down the cash to keep things less "weird"? Does having a larger salary make a man "manlier"? What if he lost his job? Or suddenly had a medical issue insurance wouldn't cover? What if he dies and the will is contested and you're left raising his kid(s)? Isn't modern marriage a partnership, where each party does the best he or she can? And if that means the woman brings in more money, shouldn't that be fucking awesome?

Blue Eyes And Low Salary Make Perfect Woman [Telegraph]
Motherhood 'Affects Women's Pay' [BBC News]
TUC Attacks Motherhood Penalty In The Workplace, Women Get Paid 16% Less Than Men On Avg — Report [Guardian]

Earlier: Dudes Don't Mind If A Lady Brings Home The Bacon