It’s common wisdom that debt and financial disagreements lead to divorce. That may not be true after all
Debt.com and Moneywise.com partnered to ask Americans how divorce impacts their finances. After surveying nearly 800 divorcees, we’ve determined that debt and financial disagreements can certainly lead to unhappiness in marriage – but it’s not why most break their vows.
Full survey results are below…
Most survey respondents told us that debt and financial difficulties were not a factor in their divorce.
| Response | Percentage of Respondents |
| Strongly Disagree | 26.01% |
| Somewhat Disagree | 12.12% |
| Disagree | 22.98% |
| Somewhat Agree | 24.24% |
| Agree | 6.44% |
| Strongly Agree | 8.21% |
All respondents to our survey told us they took on debt following their divorce – and the majority (40%) said it was more than $5,000.
| Response | Percentage of Respondents |
| More than $5,000 | 39.90% |
| Less than $1,000 | 29.42% |
| Between $1,000 and $5,000 | 30.68% |
When asked if they took on sole responsibility for a shared debt following divorce, respondents were near-split. Most respondents (57%) didn’t – but close to half (43%) did.
| Response | Percentage of Respondents |
| No | 56.57% |
| Yes | 43.43% |
Most respondents (38%) said their credit score dropped more than 50 points.
| Response | Percentage of Respondents |
| Decreased more than 50 points | 37.75% |
| I don’t know | 29.67% |
| My credit score was unaffected by my divorce | 16.54% |
| Decreased 50 points or less | 10.35% |
| Increased more than 50 points | 4.04% |
| Increased 50 points or less | 1.64% |
Most divorced respondents told us they “never considered separation” rather than filing for divorce.
| Response | Percentage of Respondents |
| No | 88.01% |
| Yes | 11.99% |
Methodology: Debt.com and Moneywise.com surveyed 2,700 Americans through online platform SurveyMonkey between Nov. 1, 2019 and Dec. 29, 2019 – but only sourced data from about 800 Americans who have been through a divorce. Moneywise.com is a personal finance website affiliated with Wise Publishing headquartered in Toronto Canada.