The Effect of Law Changes on the Growth of Divorce Rate

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The Effect of Law Changes on the Growth of Divorce Rate

Divorce is the legal termination of a marriage. There is no doubt that

divorce is much more common, becoming a norm almost. If present trends

continue, it is estimated that 1 in 3 marriages will end in divorce,

but is it the alteration in the legal grounds that is causing this

trend? In this essay I will look at the other aspects that could be

the foundation for the growth of divorce and state which I think is

the most important factor.

Prior to 1857, divorce could only be obtained by a private Act of

Parliament. The grounds for divorce were based on matrimonial offences

such as adultery, cruelty and desertion. There was a social class

divide however, only rich could obtain a divorce at this time. Also

men had more rights than women demonstrating a gender divide too. This

changed in 1923 as The Matrimonial Causes Act, after the movement of

feminism, gave women equal rights for the first time and they had the

opportunity to terminate the marriage. In 1949 The Legal Aid and

Advice Act cut out this social divide and provided free legal advice

and financial help to those who could not cope with the costs of

divorce such as the working class and women. Divorce became more

accessible in 1971 when The Divorce Reform Act stated that there was

no need to prove a partner guilty of a matrimonial offence, but the

marriage was an “irretrievable breakdown” which was beyond repair,

overturning previous blame of one partner. However if both parties

wanted a divorce they would have to wait two years compared to that of

five years if only one partner did. Divorce was made quicker to obtain

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...cannot be seen as the main cause of higher divorce rates,

it has simply made divorce easier to obtain if couples want it.

Clearly some couples are taking advantage of more liberal divorce

laws, although it should be noted that changes in the law often

reflect prior changes in public opinion. The acts prior to 1999 might

have been a factor that caused the growing rate of divorce but the

Government recognised this trend and tried to control it by providing

a “cooling off” period and counselling, so I don’t think that

particular divorce law is the main factor that caused the increase of

divorce. Personally I think that there is no one factor that is

causing the growth of divorce. All the factors that I have written

about play a part, they all link together; there is not one single

explanation for this demographic issue.

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