She says many divorced people go from very comfortable lives to struggling to afford basics. Jackie Porter, a Mississauga-based financial planner with many divorced clients, says she often meets with people who are not “psychologically or financially prepared” for a divorce. It’s an important consideration with regard to divorce or separation.” One of the things with stress is it can so easily grow or multiply in time. 'Do you have the security you would need in order to secure a mortgage? How long would it take you to pay that off, what are the financial worries, how restrictive would that be? All of these things compound and add up.

Hamilton says divorce can highlight the challenge of finding affordable accommodation. Lead author Hayley Hamilton, a senior scientist at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says her team found that debt stress is associated with more serious mental health problems, such as psychological distress, depression and anxiety. “Results indicated that the odds of poor to fair mental health were greater at higher levels of debt stress,” states the paper. The paper, Debt Stress, Psychological Distress and Overall Health Among Adults in Ontario, says that such financial stress can affect one’s health, noting people who are separated or divorced are among the groups most likely to experience debt stress. According to a recent paper in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, people who are divorced or separated are at greater risk of debt-related stress and psychological distress symptoms.

The financial and emotional devastation that accompany divorce has been well-documented, but at a time when debt levels are at record highs and housing prices have elevated the marital home to unaffordable levels, worries about money are rampant among Canadians.ĭivorce is certainly an aggravating factor in the rise of debt stress. About 40 per cent of Canadian marriages will end before their 30th anniversary, with the average marriage duration coming in at just under 14 years, according to the Ottawa-based Vanier Institute of the Family.

Divorce finances