Label: Divorcees.
Age: Typically middle-aged, around 45 to 65.
What’s their story? What are these boomers doing, aside from having wealth? Going through divorces.
Unfortunate. Perhaps not. Especially not for women, it appears.
Go ahead. Consider Bill Gates …
He truly is wealthy. He is, yet it seems that money doesn’t equate to happiness. Earlier this year, Bill mentioned that the dissolution of his marriage after 27 years was the “mistake I most regret”.
Larger than permitting Google to create Android? True, he has admitted that to be his biggest blunder, but perhaps he feels less regret over that one.
And what about his ex-spouse – what’s her perspective on this? Melinda French Gates claims that post-Bill she feels “very happy”.
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott were also “silver splitters” – couples who part ways later in life – am I right? Bezos was 55 and Scott was 48 when they decided to end their marriage in 2019. (Since then, he has discreetly jetted off to Venice for an extravagant second wedding.) But this trend isn’t limited to billionaires.
No? Do you have any data on ordinary folks? I do have, courtesy of Survation, which surveyed over 2,000 women aged 45 to 65, including 220 who are divorcees.
And what were the findings? Nearly one-third (31%) reported being happier than they had ever been. “Many described finally having the opportunity to become the women they had always aspired to be, preparing themselves ‘for the next half of my life’,” the survey indicates.
Sounds like some could reach 130! It’s remarkable what happiness can do for lifespan. One surveyed divorcee, 55-year-old Pat, stated: “I want other women to understand that my rebirth, my reconnection with my true self after the divorce, has been a wonderful journey. I am now infinitely happier.”
Are men not as adept at divorce? A 2005 survey indicated that while women often feel relieved, liberated, and content after a breakup, men typically feel devastated, confused, and betrayed. And in 2019, the behavioral scientist Paul Dolan conducted research and published a book, Happy Ever After, on a related topic. His findings showed that unmarried and childfree women are not only happier but also more likely to enjoy a longer life compared to their married and child-rearing peers.
So perhaps it’s best not to marry at all? Perhaps not.
Do advocate: “I want to break free!”
Don’t argue: “Yeah, but 31% happier still implies 69% …”
