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Breaking Up Harder to Do in Poor Economy
With the economy floundering and unemployment on the rise, you'd think that this increased financial stress would drive more people to divorce. In fact, the opposite may be true. According to this story in the Associated Press, times are so dire that many couples can't afford to split up.
In a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 37 percent reported that business was down. As Bonnie Rabin, a matrimonial lawyer in New York explained, more of her clients are waiting to see whether homes and retirement accounts will regain value before moving ahead with a divorce. Instead, much of Rabin's practice has now shifted to support modification disputes, which are increasingly common as clients' economic situations change.
Staying together in poor economic times isn't a new phenomenon; statistics show that the divorce rate dropped during the Great Depression. But for those who harbor illusions that the economy can save marriages, it's also worth noting an unfortunate consequence -- domestic violence rates during the Depression went up.
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on November 18, 2008 at 10:54 AM | Permalink
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