Plan, don't pay

Women are often still at financial risk when a romantic partnership breaks down

- Kerry Sutherland

You could be in love today and married tomorrow, but divorce is happening ever more regularly, and your relationship could place you at financial risk.

Despite conceptions to the contrary, women continue to be at a financial disadvantage, earning less for the same jobs. Older women, also, are less likely than men to have substantial retirement savings. While many people imagine that women generally ‘do well’ when they get divorced, this is a misconception.

The average monthly salary in the formal nonagricultural sector, according to Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Employment Statistics, is about R20,855, and a divorce will see a woman paying all household running expenses, with little to no financial support from her exhusband, possibly because he’s unable to do so. It is mostly in the small, high-net-worth sector of South Africa that women are better off after a divorce, but this is far from the norm. As such, financial experts warn that women should carefully consider a divorce, even if they’re extremely unhappy in their marriages, simply because of the financial risks they might face.

Play it safe