Income And Wealth Are Markers Of Behavior

Getting and staying married greatly increases your chances of being financially secure.

COLUMBUS , Ohio – A new nationwide study provides some of the best evidence to date of the devastating financial toll divorce can wreak on a person's wealth.

The study of about 9,000 people found that divorce reduces a person's wealth by about three-quarters (77 percent) compared to that of a single person, while being married almost doubles comparative wealth (93 percent). And people who get divorced see their wealth begin to drop long before the decree becomes final.

“Divorce causes a decrease in wealth that is larger than just splitting a couple's assets in half,” said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at Ohio State University 's Center for Human Resource Research.

By the same token, married people see an increase in wealth that is more than just adding the assets of two single people.