The statistics prove, over and over again, that men end up with more wealth than women after a divorce. Most studies look at the divorced couple's financial situation three and then five years after the divorce. There are many reasons why the ex-husband's wealth increases after divorce while the ex-wife with custody of minor children becomes poorer. Usually the mother has primary custody of kids that she must provide day-to-day care for which limits her earning potential. The wife may be left with a home she cannot afford to maintain or to pay taxes on. If she has the unusual luck to have some profit after she sells the family home, she almost always has to rent a place to live which excludes her from most long -term wealth-building. Usually the wife will have to establish credit in her own name, which is very difficult if she is unemployed or marginally employed and if she can no longer afford the mortgage on a home.

The children might be on their father's health insurance plan, but the mother will not. She must find a job with some health benefits or pay out of pocket if she is above the income level that would allow medicaid to cover some of her medical expenses.

Divorced men remarry faster than divorced women with custody of minor children. The divorced mother will continue to manage on her one income while the divorced father is more likely to become half of a two-income couple.

The mother will probably have no choice but to do what she can to raise her earning potential by becoming better educated or trained. This is expensive and adds to the cost of childcare, especially if she is already working and has to attend class as well.

Unfortunately a divorced mother who has been a homemaker has probably been out of employment for some period of time. Employers view even a six-month period of unemployment as reason to reject a job application. Since divorced mothers may have been "unemployed" for years and since employers also know that divorced mothers may have no choice but to take time off work to care for a sick child or deal with a child care situation, a divorced mother with kids is not considered an especially desirable employee by many employers.

Maintenance and child support are supposed to reduce the financial impact on mothers and children, and when maintenance and child support are actually paid regularly and on time, this can make a big difference for a divorced mother and her children. Since very often divorced fathers are either unable or refuse to keep up with their maintenance/child support, many divorced women and their children must rely on social programs like welfare and medicaid while the divorced husband can improve his employment situation, remarry and recover financially much more quickly than a divorced mother with children.

Divorced people, primarily men who resent paying maintenance and child support should be reminded that divorce has far worse financial consequences for divorced women than divorced men. There are always exceptions, but the statistics overwhelmingly confirm this to be true.