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.