Shifting fortunes in a changing economy: trends in the economic well-being of divorced women*

Income losses resulting from marital disruption have traditionally contributed to high rates of poverty for single women. This paper explores trends in the economic consequences of divorce using data from the 1980-2001 Current Population Survey March Demographic Supplement. Divorce still adversely affects women's incomes, but divorcées have achieved striking economic gains over the last twenty years. Newly developed econometric techniques reveal progress at all points of the income distribution; middle- and upper-class economic gains cannot be attributed to polarization within divorced women's incomes. Multivariate analyses show that progress can largely be attributed to divorcées' progress in the workforce and changing demographic attributes, rather than economic dependence on men, relatives, or income transfers. Finally, we explore the implications of these results for understanding stratification in contemporary America.