No Fault Divorce Statistics

In 1969, the no fault divorce laws were passed. It is clear that after the introduction of these laws, the divorce rates in different states in the US shot-up by 20 to 25 percent. The no fault divorce laws allowed to terminate the marriage even if it was unilaterally decided by one of the partners. As per a study conducted in 1989 by Justec Research in Virginia, this was one of the main reasons that led people to divorce each other more.

Impact of no fault divorce laws on no fault divorce statistics

• Out of the total divorces that have no-fault grounds, four-fifth are unilaterally decided by one partner to end the marital status
• In August 1999, it was published that it was the direct effect of no fault divorce laws that 0.057 million extra divorces were happening every year in the United States
• 20 years after the no fault divorce laws were passed, domestic violence and female suicides were decreased by 20 percent when compared with the situation when only fault grounds existed. The reason was that is the marriage was broken down irretrievably or there were irreconcilable differences, the spouses could opt for divorce
• Amanda Honeycutt, who is related to the University of Maryland, pursued a study in 50 states in the United States. She concluded that if the children who lived in the era when only fault grounds were present are compared with the children who lived during the time when no-fault grounds were present, then there was 10 percent less chance that the children would reside with both their biological parents in the latter circumstances
• After the no-fault divorce laws were introduced, the suicide cases in women decreased. However, owing to dearth of spousal support and / or child support, the economical situation of the women plummeted. In 1986, if the total divorced female headed families having custody of children were taken into account, then 34 percent of these were below the poverty line of the Federal Government
• The effect on children due to introduction of no-fault divorce laws are as under –
  • Less stable marriages amongst children
  • Negative impact on children involved in divorce
  • Increased suicidal tendencies amongst children

In the following graph, it can be clearly seen that after 1969, there has been a steep rise in the number of divorces.

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