How to Cope With ‘Gray Divorce’: 5 Steps to Help You Write Your Next Chapter
With divorce among women over 50 on the rise, we asked experts how to move forward
Breakups are always difficult, but when it comes to ending a relationship later in life, it can feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us. How do we rebuild? Who do we lean on? If you’ve been wrestling with these kinds of questions, please know that you are not alone. With the divorce rate for women over 50 soaring, we asked experts for empowering ways to overcome a few of the most common emotional and practical challenges of “gray divorce.”
Embrace 3 key positives
While men tend to lose connections when couples split—as once mutual friends side with their ex-wives—women often enjoy a lot of social support as their friends rally around them, notes political scientist Jocelyn Crowley, PhD, author of Gray Divorce: What We Lose and Gain from Mid-Life Splits. She interviewed 40 men and 40 women who experienced a gray divorce.
“When I spoke to the women, they pinpointed three areas where they thought their divorces benefited them,” she reveals. “The first was independence—freedom to make their own decisions—while the next biggest positive was their ability to get away from their ex’s toxic behaviors.” The third key benefit is something we can all take inspiration from: feeling happier with life overall.