And because women are still expected to be the default caregivers, this option becomes the family’s cheapest solution – cutting into years of earnings and making it harder to regain financial independence.
And often, the person managing the money doesn’t always manage it well. We’ve seen it publicly in fraud cases, in bankruptcies, in marriages that appear stable until the numbers are exposed.
When those marriages break up, the consequences are not divided fairly. A person who cannot manage money often gets burdened with debt, confusion and its consequences. He has inherited the risk without assuming power.
How can women secure financial independence?
Of course, this pattern doesn’t just play out in divorce. This is visible in widowhood, when women, who are likely to outlive their peers, are left to manage financial systems at the end of life, often for the first time. This appears when careers are interrupted or people are left to care for children or aging parents, leading to lower lifetime earnings and limited long-term security. And we see it in this pay gapWhere women start out at a disadvantage and are expected to compensate for it, without being taught how.