It seems the popular belief that men get fleeced by their divorces while women get richer is a myth, for a new study has revealed that male incomes rise by a third after a split while females face financial hardships.

Researchers in Britain have found that divorce makes men significantly richer because their available incomes rise by around one third, while the average woman's income falls by more than a fifth and can remain low for many years.

"The differences between the sexes are stark. But this is not so much a gender thing as a parent thing. The key differences are not between men and women, but between fathers and mothers," lead researcher Stephen Jenkins of Institute for Social and Economic Research told The Observer.

They have based their findings on a comparative analysis of combined data from 14 different British Household Panel Surveys over 1991 to 2004 with results from five surveys carried out in Europe.

The researchers found the positive effect on men's finances is so significant that divorce can even lift them out of poverty while women can plunge into destitution.

When a man leaves a childless marriage, his income immediately rises by 25 per cent, while women suffer a sharp fall in income -- in fact, separated women have a poverty rate of 27 per cent, the study found.

"Maintenance paid by former partners also has little impact as just 31 per cent of separated mothers receive payment from the father of their children. There are only two factors that have an impact on women's financial position, post relationship breakdown.

"The percentage change in income is less if they have worked beforehand and continue working afterwards. The impact is also reduced if they start working after the relationship breakdown," Jenkins said.