42% Men Took Loans for Alimony, 46% Women Reduced Work After Marriage: Survey

Conversations around marriage in India rarely begin with talking about real talk on money between the to-be spouses. When families assemble, the discussions may revolve around compatibility, values, children, homes, and in recent times about career ambitions too. But finances, which already sits at the centre of all these life milestones, remains outside of open discussions.

A new survey by 1 Finance Magazine, a personal finance advisory firm, suggests that while money is seldom spoken about openly, it has a hand in shaping both the course of a marriage and the way it ends.

The study, which looked at 1,258 divorced or divorcing individuals across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, offers a detailed view of how financial dynamics, both within marriage and during separation, affect lives. The respondents, men and women between 22 and 54 years, from varied professional and family backgrounds, pointed to a pattern that has long been suspected but rarely documented: disagreements over money remain a persistent trigger in relationships.

One of the most striking findings is that 67 per cent of those surveyed admitted to frequent money-related arguments. Nearly half of them, 43 per cent, said financial disputes directly contributed to their decision to separate. The underlying disparities were visible from the beginning.

How Pay Parity Between Spouses Becomes An Issue

The study found that more than half the women surveyed (56 per cent) said they were in a lower income bracket than their husbands when they got married, while only 2 per cent reported earning more.

Such imbalance in income, further compounded by social expectations, meant 46 per cent of women either ended up quitting their jobs or scaled down their work post marriage. These choices are often seen as necessary for managing family roles and have a long-term consequence on financial independence of one spouse more than the other.

The study further reveals how financial control played a big role in marriages and underlying conflicts in marital relationships.

While 43 per cent of women said their husbands managed all household expenses, another 50 per cent reported a more joint approach. Yet, this apparent sharing did not solely eliminate conflicts. Many women respondents still felt the strain of unequal bargaining power when it came to big decisions.

How do divorces fare, monetarily?

If the marriage itself showed stress points, divorce brought another set of financial realities, most which are often harsher and more enduring than the emotional ones.

On average, men reported higher expenses during the process: 49 per cent said they spent more than Rs 5 lakh on divorce-related costs, compared to 19 per cent of women. The burden was not always easy to manage. Around 42 per cent of men said they had to take loans to meet alimony obligations or legal proceedings, and nearly a third of those paying alimony admitted they were left with a negative net worth. On average, 38 per cent of male respondents’ annual income went into maintenance payments.

Women, by contrast, often emerged with significant settlements. Over half (53 per cent) received more than 50 per cent of their husband’s net worth as alimony, the study found.

In some extreme cases, 26 per cent women reported receiving over 100 per cent of the husband’s declared net wealth. This sharp contrast shows how financial aftershocks of separation in marriage differ across both genders.

Financial health and relationships are intertwined

Where men seem to be struggling with payments, women often relied on settlements to rebuild their life in terms of stability after years of low earnings.

Says Keval Bhanushali, co-founder and CEO at 1 Finance, “We often underestimate how strongly financial well-being shapes our relationships. Financial incompatibility is among the leading causes of divorce. The costs of divorce then compound the strain, creating a vicious spiral of financial instability.”

Kanan Bah, editor-in-chief of 1 Finance Magazine, notes that, “Traditionally, discussing finances has been a taboo in Indian society. The fact that financial arguments were a cause of divorce in 42 per cent of cases underscores the importance of aligning financial habits,” he said. He pointed out that alignment is not just about how much one earns, but also about dealing with debt, family responsibilities, and lifestyle expectations.

The study, rather than offering perspectives or answers for couples entering marriages, lists some questions that they must have to ensure a financially healthy marital life:

• Who will support the aging parents of both the husband and the wife?

• How will existing loans or debts be handled?

• What are our shared financial goals, like buying a house, a car, funding children’s education, etc., and how will we save towards them?

• What is our acceptable lifestyle standard and monthly budget?

• How will we manage income volatility, if any? Is our acceptable lifestyle factoring in our acceptable lifestyle standard?

• Who will take responsibility for financial planning and long-term investments?

Ultimately, the data from this survey reminds that marriage is as much a financial partnership as it is an emotional one. When money remains in the shadows, whether as disparity, debt, or silence, it may resurface later in ways that could test the relationship’s very foundation.