Women's divorce experience: A research on the divorce experience of working and non-working women

This study comparatively examines women's experiences of divorce through working and non-working women. The socio-economic effects of divorce on women are evaluated within the framework of income and living conditions. The data obtained in the study is based on the Income and Living Conditions Surveys published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) for the 2019-2023 period. In this context, education levels, health indicators, economic welfare levels and poverty rates of women according to their married and divorced status were analyzed in detail. In the study, descriptive and statistical analyses were carried out using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program. First, the demographic and economic profiles of women were analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions. Then, independent samples t-test and chi-square tests were used to evaluate the effects of divorce on women's living conditions. The differences between working and non-working women were analyzed in terms of income level, social support mechanisms and quality of life in order to provide a comparative perspective to the literature. The findings of the study show that especially divorced women are in certain risk groups in economic and social terms, the poverty rates of non-working women after divorce are higher than married women, and the level of education stands out as a mitigating factor for the effects of divorce. Moreover, when married and divorced women are evaluated in terms of health indicators, it is determined that divorced women are more prone to psychological and physical health problems. The study reveals the long-term effects of divorce on women's living conditions and offers suggestions for improving social policies and support mechanisms.