Victoria Whitelaw, 62, has some hard-earned advice for younger women.

Of course, they cannot know if their relationships – like her first marriage – will one day end in a divorce. But there’s no harm in being prepared and skilled up, she says.

Victoria Whitelaw says her divorce took a long-term toll on her finances, despite her well-paid job as a lawyer. Credit:Joe Armao

“There might not be two incomes, there might be a glitch in child support, there might be health issues because of stress,” she says. “I’m a person who’s able to earn a relatively decent income, and yet divorce had a profound effect on my finances.”

Ms Whitelaw, a barrister, is not unusual. Older Australians – men and women – who have divorced are substantially less well off in later life than people who stayed married, according to new research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies.