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Employment and Divorce
A newly divorced single mom will have to struggle to start working again after a gap of several years spent in raising a family that has fallen to pieces. These are the people who make up a sizeable chunk of the population today. So the overall picture is only an assembly of faces like these.
The Statistics
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings undertaken by the Office of National Statistics in 2005 showed that till Sept 2004, 2.3 million people were underemployed as they had to take care of their families. They were caught in the vicious circle of poverty where they could not earn because of the time they had to give at home, and the family suffered precisely because they could not work properly. Out of the total unemployed population of the nation, 45% of adult women cited this reason for not being able to earn to their fullest extent, as against only 6% of men. The government claimed in 2006 that many of these women have joined the labour force now. But then, why were there 1.74 million children living in workless households by the first quarter of 2006?
The harsh fact of the day is looking us in the face – 90% of UK’s single parents are mothers – and many of their children are on state dole for their daily bread. It may be contextual to point out that the employment rate among married and cohabiting mothers was 71.4% in 2006.
It is also an equally harsh truth that an increasing number of men are filing for bankruptcy after divorce.
Side Effects of Divorce
Apart from the extremes of unemployment and bankruptcy, a person’s career in general is bound to take a beating, thanks to divorce. The same ONS survey mentioned above noted that for women, average earnings peaked between 30-39 years and for men between 40-49 years. Post-50, income rates fell steadily for both sexes. It must also be pointed out that divorce is least among the 35-45 group, and cohabitation is their new favourite. The scourge of this age bracket post-divorce is binge drinking and behavioural disorders, and affects men and women alike. Other side effects include:
Chain smoking, drug and substance abuse.
Eating and sleeping disorders.
Withdrawal syndromes and unwillingness to work or join social activities.
Disintegration of personal hygiene and general apathy towards improving work.
Self-employed professionals undergo a creative low and miss out business opportunities.
Why it Happens
But why do we react in this way?
In the initial phase of divorce, the legal and financial process takes up both time and attention, and those who are working miss out a number of days. This snowballs into not going at all or even resignation in the later phase of the divorce.
A second gap happens post-divorce in the ‘mourning period’. This is when most bad habits develop as well and people lose interest in keeping up personal appearance.
Then there is the increasing trend of relocation after divorce, so people find it hard to find jobs or fit into the new work place.
Cases are most complicated where there are children as well. The custodian may give up working for child rearing. The non-custodian would be too wrecked to concentrate on anything. Many men become emotionally unstable at this phase, neglecting their jobs and taking to bad habits.
The format of day-to-day life changes too much for immediate adjustment.
How to Avoid Career Pitfalls Post-divorce
Making a list of woes is easier than trying to get them solved. How does one avoid career pitfalls after divorce? Here are a few suggestions.
Prepare yourself by looking for a job beforehand if you are planning to return to work after a gap. If that is unsuitable because of commitments to children, try a home-based or internet-based business.
Fix your job before you move to a new city.
Find day care centre for your child before joining a job.
Try to stay active; it will keep away bad habits.
Have several investment plans ready so that you have money to fall back upon.
