Divorce is almost always difficult on the children involved as so many things in their lives are changing. They will no longer live with both parents. They may have to move to a different house and/or a different school. Holidays will be split. Schedules will become more difficult. They may eventually have to get used to stepparents or step siblings living with them.
Interestingly, new research indicates that children of high-income families are the most significantly impacted by divorce, as compared to children of moderate or low-income families. Divorce Hits Children In Higher-Income Families The Hardest, by Rebecca Adams, huffingtonpost.com, September 15, 2014. The study, which gathered its information by questioning divorced mothers about family structure, household income, and socio-emotional state of their children, observed 4,000 children from birth until age 12. While the conclusion that "parental separation or divorce only significantly impacts he behavior of children in high-income families" was clear, the reason for this conclusion was not.
Nonetheless, the researchers hypothesized that there were likely two reasons. First, "since fathers - who are the sole or primary breadwinners in 60 percent of families - are typically the parent that leaves the household during a divorce or separation, children may experience a more significant drop in family income." The children may have to move and/or go to a different school, which can certainly cause stress for a child. Next, the researchers hypothesized that divorce could hit a high-income family particularly hard, since such a change in family dynamic is less common in their social circles and, thus, such a change could be a shock to the children. Lower income families may be more used to family changes such as divorce or separation.
Further research indicated that the child's behavior actually improved if the mother remarried. This is likely because the additional income of the stepparent may allow the children to have back some of the "normalcy" they felt that they lost as a result of the divorce, such as the financial benefit of a two income household.