Half the Wealth, Twice the Risk: Inside America’s Gray Divorce Epidemic
Troy, United States – February 17, 2026 / Hermiz Law /
Americans over 50 are divorcing at twice the rate they did a generation ago, and the financial wreckage falls hardest on women. The gray divorce rate — divorces among adults 50 and older — doubled between 1990 and 2010, reaching 10.3 per 1,000 married persons, where it has held steady through 2023. Among those 65 and older, the picture is more stark: that rate has more than quadrupled, climbing from 1.4 to 6.7 per 1,000, according to July 2025 data from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.
It’s the only age group in America where divorce is still rising.
Roughly 36% of all divorcing adults are now over 50 — a population large enough that its financial aftershocks ripple through retirement systems, safety-net programs, and family networks. A peer-reviewed study published in the Journals of Gerontology found that women’s standard of living plunges 45% after a gray divorce, compared to 21% for men. Both lose about half their total wealth. For women over 63 who’ve gone through gray divorce, 27% end up in poverty — nine times the rate of their married peers.
“Well over a third of people who are getting divorced are now over the age of 50,” said Susan L. Brown, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Bowling Green State University. “We just can’t ignore that group anymore.”
The financial toll reaches beyond individual households. An Allianz Life Insurance survey published in July 2025 found that 56% of married Americans say divorce would derail their retirement strategy. Among those already divorced, 40% say it did exactly that.
The gender gap doesn’t close after the papers are signed. Only 22% of women repartner within a decade of gray divorce, compared to 37% of men, according to research published in Demography. That gap compounds the economic damage: women who divorce after 50 have fewer working years to recover, smaller Social Security benefits, and often struggle to navigate the opaque process of claiming their share of an ex-spouse’s pension.
“People who experience gray divorce, they experience economic decline, and they don’t really have a lot of work years to recuperate,” said I-Fen Lin, Professor of Sociology at Bowling Green State University.
Two-thirds of gray divorces are initiated by women, according to the most comprehensive survey on the subject — a 2004 AARP study that remains the only large-scale national survey of its kind. In that same survey, 26% of men said they never saw it coming.
The trend has drawn national attention in recent months. In October 2025, Oprah Winfrey devoted a full episode of The Oprah Podcast to gray divorce, featuring Dr. Brown. The same month, the New York Times solicited personal stories from gray divorcees for an upcoming investigation. Pew Research Center published new analysis confirming the trend’s persistence.
For family law attorneys, the pattern is unmistakable.
“The baby boom generation redefined marriage — they married later, divorced more freely, and prioritized personal fulfillment over permanence,” said Madana Hermiz, founding divorce attorney of Hermiz Law. “Gray divorce is that philosophy catching up with them in retirement. A generation that treated marriage as optional is now discovering that the financial safety net was built for people who stayed.”
The core tension is structural. Social Security’s spousal benefit formula, pension-division rules, and the absence of mandatory financial guidance at the point of divorce all reflect an era when marriages lasted a lifetime. The Women’s Retirement Protection Act, introduced in Congress in March 2025, represents one of the few legislative attempts to address the gap — but no comprehensive policy overhaul is on the horizon.
“No one wants to prepare for a divorce,” said Kelly LaVigne, VP of Consumer Insights at Allianz Life. “But divorce later in life — especially after retiring — is increasingly common. If you have been planning for retirement as a couple, then splitting up your assets to fund separate retirements can leave you short of achieving your retirement goals.”
A U.S. Government Accountability Office report found women’s household income fell 41% after divorcing past 50 — nearly double the 23% decline for men. The Brookings Institution has documented that divorced elderly women face a poverty rate of 15.8%, almost four times the 4.3% rate among married elderly women.
The question isn’t whether gray divorce will continue. The question is who pays for it.
About Hermiz Law Hermiz Law is a family law practice led by divorce attorney Madana Hermiz, representing clients in divorce, asset division, custody, and post-divorce financial planning. The firm specializes in complex divorce cases involving retirement assets, business valuations, and high-net-worth estates.
Contact Information:
Hermiz Law
5960 Livernois Rd
Troy, MI 48098
United States
Mark Hermiz
(248) 825-8042
https://www.hermizlaw.com/
