Abstract

Is Divorce Worth the Price?

The legal records for the past year in England shows the highest number of divorce petitions ever filed in one year. At the same time it is asserted that the divorce rate in the United States is no higher, and indeed is possibly lower, than it used to be. The economics and the psychology of marriage and divorce are certainly not identical in Europe and America, and it is interesting to speculate as to whether the attitude of men and women on either side of the Atlantic is changing, and if so, what may be the outcome. It seems quite possible that poverty is a deterrent factor influencing the divorce rate. Men and women may well decide that the expense of the law is one that may be spared and postpone a legal solution of their problems until better times, meanwhile living with new partners without legal sanction. Or it may be that economic reverses make men and women disinclined to be quitters.