Since women are the ones who undergo a lot of emotional turmoil during and after the divorce process, they are at a bigger risk of settling for an unfair financial settlement. As a woman, you may be tempted to get over and done with the divorce process as soon as possible so as to put an end to the bitter trauma that you may be experiencing. However, doing so can have disastrous consequences. It is common for women to slip below the poverty line after divorce. Since women are financially vulnerable after divorce, they need to be over-cautious about their finances during and after divorce.

Why Are Women Financially Vulnerable After Divorce?

Women mostly tend to assume the role of a caretaker in a marriage. Therefore, it is common for women to sacrifice their careers in order to take care of their home and family. It is only when divorce is in the offing that women realise that the decision to quit their high-rising careers was a big mistake.

Divorce brings with a lot of changes; you may have to leave your marital home and your financial status may not remain what it used to be. Looking for a new house can be challenging especially if you have children. You may want your children to live in the same neighbourhood to ensure that they still feel close to their friends and familiar surroundings but doing so may mean shelling out more money if the neighbourhood is an expensive one.

If you have been a stay-at-home mom, you may have look for another job to support yourself. If you have children and you are the custodial parent, the task at hand can be tougher. You will have to ensure that your new job not only supports your lifestyle but also that of your children. Many women have no clue about how to take care of monthly finances or yearly savings. Since women rarely involve themselves in financial planning sessions with their husbands, they are more likely to feel financially vulnerable after divorce.

Why Do Many Women Slip Below Poverty Line?

Recent studies have proved that as many as 53.4% of the single mothers with children are below the poverty line. In addition, studies also prove that while men tend to experience only a 10% drop in incomes post-divorce, women are likely to experience as much as 30% drop in income after divorce.

The main reason for this is that when women tend to start their careers after taking a long break from their careers, they do not get hired for highly skilled jobs. In addition, many single custodial mothers can only afford to take up part-time work because the cost of child-care far outweighs the benefits of a fulltime job.

Financial Tips to Make Ends Meet

• If you have no idea about financial planning, it would make sense to gain some knowledge about basic financial planning. For this, you need not enrol yourself in a costly course; researching the Internet is a cost-effective way to gain knowledge on this subject. Research about your savings options such as ISAs, allowances such as jobseeker’s allowance, and basic state pension schemes.

• Make sure that you claim all the benefits that you are entitled to. If you are on low income and want to stay in your marital home rather than anywhere else, the housing benefit scheme in the UK can be very helpful. This scheme can help you towards making your mortgage interest payments when you have a low income stream.

• If you would like to stay in a rental house, you may be eligible for a rent allowance or rent rebate. You will need to contact your local council to get more details about this allowance. Your local council or Citizens Advice Bureau will also be able to assist you if you do not have a home or cannot afford a home.

• You would need to make sure that you claim your full state benefits that you may be entitled to. These may include but are not limited to winter fuel payments, pension credit, and council tax benefit. Single mothers are also entitled to tax credits and costs related to childcare.

Technorati Tags: After, Divorce, Financially, Surviving, Tips, Women.

It’s never an easy thing ending a relationship or marriage. I’ve seen a hand full of my friends deal with their parents getting divorced and whether it was a short or long-term breakup, it really seemed to affect them mentally and emotionally. Personally, I was engaged and unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way I hoped for, but I got through it and because of that I am in a better position to provide you with advice that can help dating after divorce.

Whether or not a relationship was successful, it’s still hard to let go and move forward. A divorce, in my opinion, is considered a loss of something more than just two people. When two people get married, they are considered to become “One.” From that day forward, the ways nouns are used are entirely different. It changes from “I” to “we,” from “me” to “us,” and from “mine” to “ours.”

From that day on so many things are shared. I guess the only things that really belong to you alone are your clothes and other things that men and women cannot share. But compared to the big picture, these things are considered minor. Two people that plan on being together make plans together. I guess after the words “Till death do you part” are mentioned, so much planning begins. It’s from these words dreams are shared, goals are set, and the predictions begin.

But what happens after all the planning has been made and these two people decide to separate? Well, it’s like being at ten and having to start back a zero. It’s almost similar to being reborn, for you have to learn how to live all over again, but this time, alone. Because there is so much hope and excitement at the beginning, it brings so much disappointment when it doesn’t go as planned. The question becomes: “Where do you go from here?” “Will you ever be able to move on?” “Will you ever find someone else?”

Although the main goal is moving on, there is no need for any rush. Below are some tips that worked pretty well for me:

Try not to be alone – When I was going through my breakup I always surrounded by people that cared and loved me. Although it didn’t take the pain away, it was good to know that I wasn’t going through it alone.
Speak your true feelings – One of the worse things you can do is store anything inside. This is not the time to “be strong” because, like they say, what comes up must come down, so although it may seem like everything is ok, it’s only a matter of time until these true feelings come back to haunt you. It’s good to have a good friend that is willing to listen to whatever it is you have to say.
Keep aiming towards personal goals – It is not the end of the world! You must proceed to push forward with your personal goals in order to make something out of yourself because at the end of the day, moving forward is the end goal. What better way to move attack, then achieving goals that allow a solo future.
Don’t rush into another relationship – It’s very common for someone to seek to fill that emptiness that they once had. At this stage of the game, vulnerability doesn’t help, because a feeling you may think you have, may not be that feeling at all. Aim to be happy alone and keep from relying on someone else to bring you happiness. The best way to move on is to be comfortable with the thought of being alone first.
Learn from your mistakes – Take the time to evaluate yourself. Remember, there is no such thing as a bad experience unless you have not been able to take anything from it. There is always room for improvement and for that reason, it is important to using that time to better yourself.

I can say it’s been a little over a year since my 3 year relationship and I’m doing great. I am more motivated than ever to getting where I need to be and I am to the point where I feel like I can date again. Like I said before, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but most of the advice that I’ve given were a key to me being where I am today. Not only have I become wiser, but I’m confident enough to say that it was a wonderful experience and from that experience I’ve grown to be a better man that will take the lessons from that past relationship in so that I can bless the relationship to come.

Technorati Tags: Advice, After, Dating, Divorce, Experience, From, Story, Told

Egyptian court freezes lower court ruling that would allow divorced Copts to remarry CAIRO – An Egyptian court has ordered a freeze on a lower court ruling that would allow divorced Coptic Christians to remarry. Read more on Brandon Sun

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