tely 44 percent of them will have lived in a home with only one parent by the age of sixteen. The estimate could reach as high as 60 percent for children born in the 1990's (Furstenberg and Cherlin). Society realizes that divorce has a lasting impact on children, but nobody really knows what to do about this widespread problem (Furstenberg and Cherlin 2).
             There seems to be many disputes over the extent of psychological and behavioral problems that children of divorce face, which I will discuss later on, but the economic consequences are more easily measured. Early on, women's contributions to the family were mainly domestic, while the men provided the financial needs. Today more wives may be working, but in most cases their earnings are quite a bit less than their husbands (Furstenberg and Cherlin 46). When families with children dissolve, the custodial parent is most often the mother. These single-parent families face a dramatic drop in income within the early years of the divorce. Even with child support most single-parent households that are headed by the mother are considered low income and live near or below the poverty line (Kitson and Holmes 195).
             Divorce couples must also face changes in credit. The individual in the relationship who was not the primary "breadwinner" found it difficult to establish credit in his or her own name. Of those individuals who had credit, most experienced lowered credit limits, cancellations of credit, and increased pressure from companies to pay off the outstanding debts (Kitson and Holmes 203).
             The negative monetary effects are the greatest during the first year after divorce, but for many women it can take years to recover. Although in most cases the custodial parent receives child support, the amount paid is much less than the costs that it takes to raise a child (Wallerstein et al.163). For kids of divorce, adapting to a life of low income has a gre...