Divorce is the legal separation of a married couple caused most often by unhappiness and distrust between the two spouses. Poverty is being extremely poor and lacking money, possessions and support. In this article, I will discuss the impact of low-income couples and how income, especially in the poverty range, will affect divorce rates. Studies show that poor families are more likely to divorce due to psychological stress. The purpose of this article is to discover whether economic hardship is a cause of divorce or rather a glue that will hold a couple together, because the benefits of staying together outweigh the costs of separation. Divorce is expensive and standards of living decline after divorce due to the shift from two-parent to single-parent income. However, in many cases the benefits of separation outweigh the costs, such as less psychological stress and a happier life. I will look at the benefits of divorce in poverty and the reasons why couples may stay together, such as standard of living and children. Poverty is the state of being poor, in which one lacks the minimum food and shelter necessary to meet one's needs. life. Poverty is determined by a poverty threshold published annually by the United States Census Bureau, updated annually for inflation. The poverty line is described as “a minimum income level below which a person is officially considered to lack adequate means of support and to be living in poverty” (American Heritage 2000). In 2010, 15.1 percent of all U.S. residents were considered poor, the highest poverty rate since 1993. More than 16 million children, or 22 percent of all children in the United States -United, were considered poor. article......Publications. Houghton, Mifflin, and Harcourt 2013. “Causes and Effects of Poverty.” Cliff notes. Accessed May 2, 2014 (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/social-and-global-stratification/causes-and-effects-of-poverty). McDonald, Keith 2001. “The cost of divorce ." Accessed May 2, 2014 (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/19990903a.asp). National Center for Children in Poverty 2014. “Child Poverty.” New York: National Center for Children in Poverty. Accessed May 2, 2014 (http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html). National Poverty Center 2014. “Poverty Facts.” Michigan: National Poverty Center. Accessed May 2, 2014 (http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000. “Poverty Level.” The free dictionary. Accessed May 2, 2014 (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Poverty+threshold).