A divorce, therefore, constitutes a transfer of part of the husband s wealth to his wife. Because the disparities that accumulate over years of income differentials are great the wealth transferred is enormous. His wife stands to receive 150,000 USD of these savings if the marriage is dissolved after 20 years. Assuming an identical savings rate for her, she would have saved only 120,000 USD and her husband would be entitled to 60,000 USD of it. Thus, a net transfer of 90,000 USD from husband to wife is the likely outcome of the divorce of this very representative couple.
Divorce is, by and large, the most powerful re-distributive mechanism in modern society.
Women belong to an economically underprivileged class, are still highly dependent on systems of patronage and, therefore, are the great beneficiaries of any social, progressive, mechanisms of redistribution. Taxes, social security, other social unilateral transfers, single parent benefits all accrue mostly to them. The same goes for the divorce dividend the economic windfall profit which is the result of a reasonably standard divorce. But economic players are assumed to be rational. Dividing the matrimonial property in the above mentioned illustrative case is the equivalent of a monthly cash transfer of 300 constant USD from the husband to the wife.