XX Factor: the blog

It's Official: Recession Kills Divorce

Divorce is officially a casualty of the Great Recession. Rates are down for the first time in five years, according to the newly released study of the National Marriage Project. Michael Gerson has called this shift a kind of “cultural renewal”; the idea is that when times are tough, people connect with their cherished values and stop indulging in the kinds of luxuries a fat economy allows. Divorce rates also dropped dramatically during the Great Depression. The reality is, however, that divorce is just expensive. People can’t afford to get divorced during a recession. Marriage rates are down as well; they can’t afford that luxury either.

The researchers don’t quite say this but it seems as if the recession just keeps a lid on a lot of unhappiness. This weekend’s New York Times Magazine brought us a close examination of one companionate marriage, which seemed equal parts passionate, dull, rocky, exciting, and definitely salvageable. Companionate marriages—also known as “soulmate marriages”—the modern idea that spouses should choose each other as friends and lovers and that marriage is intended for happiness more than expediency—is working out well for the kids of people who may get to write about it in the New York Times one day, but not so well for everyone else.

In less educated, less wealthy classes, women, now given the choice, are lately finding their husbands wanting. This is a form of feminism but also a form of instability. Researchers predict that once the recession is over the working class will start to look like the inner city—a matriarchy with struggling mothers and drifting men and unmoored children. The most amazing statistic comes late in the report—the percentage of people who describe themselves as “very happy” with their marriage is way down since 1960.

Photograph of wedding rings in mantle by Comstock Images/Getty Images.

Tags: divorce and recession, divorce rates, national marriage project

Hanna Rosin Double X co- editor, reporter, prefer my friends live.

Comments

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By: luckze | Tue, 08/31/2010 - 13:16

Happy people make people more happy
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Kills Divorce

By: ForbesFloyd | Fri, 08/27/2010 - 03:12

Put her allowance down to nothing per day find out what she dislikes by pressing the Y button and keep doning what she dislikes.
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Kills Divorce

By: TitusTobias | Thu, 08/26/2010 - 06:41

Why would you want her to use your money in the first place. Clearly you need some help if you think killing someone is a solution!..If she doesn't want to be with you, then get over it. She also devoted time into you. You are both.
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Divorce

By: MarkTwain | Sat, 08/21/2010 - 03:48

If you think so then you are a narcissist, experts agree that most men who kill their wives to avoid divorcing them are sociopaths, able to distinguish right from wrong but not caring too much about that distinction.
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Kills Divorce

By: EthenEugene | Sat, 08/21/2010 - 02:55

You would feel like killing her but actually you would never commit this crime.And if she wants a divorce maybe somewhere the man's fault.
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It's Official

By: LeslieGabriella | Fri, 08/13/2010 - 08:18

Considering the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on warfare in the Middle East, I'd say that there are some very rich Republicans laughing in the face of nationwide recession.
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Kills Divorce

By: ChristinaClaire | Fri, 08/13/2010 - 02:23

Dude totally through in the colon cleansing ad at just a random place in your essay. It will mess with your class! I mean how funny would it be to be reading that to your class "In conclusion, The Great Depression tested the american people.
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Shattering Finesse's Myths

By: exnewmex | Wed, 12/09/2009 - 16:07

Are you kidding me? 17 percent? I am a mother of two, one in college, the other in a private school because of learning disabilities. My ex pays about 7 percent of gross income, and is not required to contribute one dime to either of the kids' education. That's a fact.

Adding insult to injury, he remarried an independently wealthy woman who also works. While he remodels his home and goes on vacation, I am barely scraping by, have not gone on vacation in years, don't go to the movies, to restaurants or anything else.

As for women initiating divorce, I am divorced, not because I sought it, but because my ex decided he wanted to fool around. When I filed for a legal separation, his reply was that he wanted a divorce. I am listed as the petitioner. Most women I know who have initiated a divorce have done so because they were forced into by the actions or the laziness of their exes.

I am sick to death of hearing about the poor men hurt by divorce. Boo hoo. Just look at the statistics about divorce's effect on quality of life for men and women.

You may not want to pay your ex and feel, but you should remember that the money goes not to her, but to the needs of your children.

@Finesse- I agree that most

By: buggie | Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:58

@Finesse- I agree that most alimony laws seem out-of-date, however child support seems irrelevant here- if the couple were still married the father would still have to contribute financially to child's life, as well he should. If the child is living with the mother, then how else would you ensure that the father carries out the financial obligations he imposed on himself by having a child?