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Abandoning her career to look after their two daughters was what Isobel’s* ex-husband wanted.
Six years after their divorce, she earns a quarter of his salary while caring for the children six out of seven days.
Despite having two university degrees, she is “trapped” on universal credit and frustrated with a “ludicrous” divorce system that didn’t account for years of unpaid work to support her ex and raise their family.
“I feel hugely let down and I feel cheated by a system that feels so orchestrated towards women being on the back foot,” said Isobel, 44, from Berkshire.
Data suggests she is not alone.
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The numbers
Divorce slashes women’s household incomes far more than men’s, new research by Legal and General has revealed.
Wives can expect their income to be halved on average in the year after ending the relationship, compared with a 30% drop for husbands.
A closer look at Isobel’s divorce settlement – and why half didn’t seem anywhere near fair
Isobel was earning £19,500 working for a pharmaceutical company in 2007 when she married her ex-husband.
She took voluntary redundancy while on maternity leave in 2008 and over the next nine years only briefly worked part-time.
“It [the jobs] didn’t last very long because he didn’t manage very well with me being at work,” she said.
When they divorced in 2019, she had been back in work for two years. But her care assistant salary was just £17,000 – much less than her likely salary if she hadn’t given up her career to be a mum. As for her husband – he was now taking home approximately £52,000.
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In a roughly even settlement, she was awarded the car, one buy-to-let flat with £50,000 equity, and £55,000 of £200,000 equity from the family home, plus child maintenance. He was…
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