Canvas Outage

Due to the Canvas outage, all Rutgers University–New Brunswick final exams scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2026, have been postponed. Bloustein School Internship poster sessions for today will be rescheduled. 

Topic

Jocelyn Elise Crowley

Jocelyn Crowley: The reality of a ‘grey divorce’

Divorce in later life – or grey divorce – is on the rise in New Zealand. Divorces among people over 50 sits just shy of 40 percent at last count, up 7 percent in the last decade. This echoes the upwards trending rates around the globe. Most commonly, they are initiated by women. 

Jocelyn Crowley, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University in the US has researched and written Gray Divorce, She joins Jim to discuss. 

Dr. Crowley discusses the benefits of divorce after the age of 50 for women in Woman’s World Magazine in March 2025

“When I spoke to the women, they pinpointed three areas where they thought their divorces benefited them,” she reveals. “The first was independence—freedom to make their own decisions—while the next biggest positive was their ability to get away from their ex’s toxic behaviors.” The third key benefit is something we can all take inspiration from: feeling happier with life overall.

The astonishing rise of gray divorce

“Every year you’re out of the workforce, that gets entered into the complex Social Security formula for benefits as a zero — that you basically did nothing that year, even though you were raising your children,” Crowley says. “As you might imagine, when women emerge from a gray divorce, they are hammered in comparison to men.”

The Faces Behind Gray Divorce

According to a study conducted by Jocelyn Crowley of Rutgers University, participants identified positive aspects of their lives post-gray divorce, including higher levels of overall happiness, liberation from their ex-spouses, and enhanced independence and freedom.

Topics