Is It Only Finance At The Bottom Of Falling Divorce Rates?

Numerous industries have felt the financial pinch in a widevariety of ways, as the long tentacles of the credit squeeze continue to reachout. An unexpected decrease has been in the number of divorces and separations,as fewer couples opt to file for divorce. Is it just that the financial crisishas made it much harder for couples to sell jointly owned homes, plus thegreater difficulty of funding two separate households?

In a recent survey Grant Thornton’s showed that almost halfof all the matrimonial lawyers surveyed, the number of divorces has decreased.Partner at Grant Thornton’s Forensic and Investigation Services Robert Kerr,said, "The reasons for the drop vary but certainly the financial carve-up thatfollows divorce settlements will be at the forefront of a couple's minds whencontemplating divorce".

"For many spouses, the divorce process involves a great dealof long-term planning and waiting for better economic terms is often justanother element of the overall process", says President of the American Academyof Matrimonial Lawyers, (AAML) Gary Nickelson. "A sudden drop in the net worthcan effectively postpone the final decision from being made".

Britain's Office for National Statistics revealed earlierthis year that the number of divorces had dropped from 12.2% in 2006, to 11.9%in 2007. This is a 26 year low, while AAML stated that there was an overall 27%lowering in the number of registered divorces.

A continuous decrease in divorces over the past seven years hasreported in Australia. The rate of divorce is 23.6 percent lower than it was in1986.

"The rate ofmarriage has dropped and therefore the rate of divorce has also dropped",says Julian Lipson, a British lawyer.

Other authorities say the lower numbers of divorce are adirect reflection of 40 years of increasing government spending, treating theeffects of broken homes and formulating a cultural alteration in attitudestowards marriage.

Is the world heading for longer-lasting marriages, arecouples prepared to work together more, or is or is it simply that financialconsiderations are the cause of the trend?