The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women.
“Women the world over lose out financially in divorce, say custodians of the U.N. treaty on women's rights. That's why they are reviewing what CEDAW says on the matter, with a new general recommendation expected next year.”
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, vice president of the U.N. committee overseeing implementation of CEDAW, during the recent review session on CEDAW, which took place from July 20 through August 7 this summer. During the meeting, the convention began airing current research and findings on the economic consequences of divorce on women.
What did they find?
"The economic consequences of divorce have been of growing concern to social scientists and policy makers," said Halperin-Kaddari in her statement"
“In industrialized countries men usually experience minimal income losses after divorce, most women experience a substantial decline in household income and an increased dependence on social welfare where it is available. "Throughout the world, female-headed households are the most likely to be poor."
“Women's median income drops by 20 percent or so in the United States and 24 percent in the European Union, studies show. But the financial impact on men isn't as drastic. According to 1996 U.S. Census data, 21 percent of recently divorced women were living below the poverty line, while only 9 percent of men were.”
Halperin-Kaddari said the goal is to set up a framework that can guide CEDAW member countries to create "an egalitarian legal regime under which the economic benefits of marriage and the costs and economic consequences of marital breakdown are equally borne by men and women."
All I can say is, I wish CEDAW had not taken so long to address the injustices women face during the divorce process. I could have used some justice 10 years ago when my ex walked away with 82% of our family’s income.
Doing that left me in the position, many, many women face. They’ve either been stay at home moms with no income or they are married to a man whose income in substantially higher.
Women are left without the resource to hire good attorneys. We all know you get what you pay for and if you go with the inexpensive attorney, you don’t get much protection.
This leaves more women willing to give up and not pursue their legal rights during the divorce process because they can’t afford to do battle in a Family Court System that is skewed to favor the person with the most money.
We have a system that promotes conflict during divorce. It will be interesting to see if the recommendations by CEDAW will even the playing field for women who are left destitute once their husband decides to take a hike and in turn reduce some of the conflict.
“Women’s median income drops by 20 percent or so in the United States” is a skewed statistic if you don’t balance it with how women’s median income “increases” when they got married. If divorce gets much “fairer” to women, you might find that men will stop marrying them.
This statistic is correct for women, no matter if they are the breadwinner in a divorce. Men get used these women driving the train, and typically end up with 20% of the costs of raising and educating the children, while the women are saddled with the lion’s (lionesses/) share of 80% or more – this effectually reduces their income!
This may be true all over the world, as women are increasing their earning abilities – the paradigm is shifting and increasing men think they are the “disadvantaged” ones….I think it boils down to the work ethic and how it is is evolving, or devolving – based upon a couples psychology.
The trv comment – I think quite the opposite is true – women will quit marrying men, as now they can do so much better without them, and earn so much more. Marriage is rapidly becoming outdated – and a divorce usually devastates women of all earning capacities.
gav