Making Up Again!

For a long time both federal and local governments as well as family counselors have been working hard to get the devorce rate down in the U.S. Now, the economic system seems to be succeeding in doing what they could not – keep families together. Increasingly dissatisfied married couples find themselves staying together today because of the uncertain economic times ahead. Particularly in two income families where the spouses know that neither of them could survive on just one salary. In other words, until the economy improves, for many people, it’s just too expensive to get a divorce.

In many towns and cities, the divorce rates support this theory. For instance, in Lucas County, Ohio the divorce rate has been steadily trending downwards, along with the economy, since 2003. The number of divorce filings decreased from 2,047 to 1,839 over a five year span. Local divorce filings in Fairfield, Connecticut, according to a prominent divorce attorney, has gone down 40% in the past year alone.

This state of affairs is being replicated in towns across the United States. Even people with assets are affected. The housing bubble implosion saw the home values of many homeowners go down by as much as half or more. And who wants to file for divorce when their net worth has declined that much? Better to tough it out until the economy recovers. That way both parties win and end up with more money.

The reason for the downturn in divorce filings is no real mystery.  And if you go back through history, you’ll find that tight economic times is synonymous with a low percentage of divorce. When a couple divorces, suddenly you’re talking about supporting two separate households with no increase in monthly income. In addition, you’re going to have court fees, moving fees, possible child support and alimony payments, and last but not least, attorney fees.

As a result, some couples have made the decision that rather than seek a divorce, to try one more time to try to work out differences. Some couples are actually able to take advantage of the situation and re-discover the traits in the person that they were originally attracted to. Others, however, are simply remaining in a holding pattern waiting for the first chance to break out.

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