A new study by researchers at Iowa State University has found that in around a quarter of divorces, couples might actually have been happier if they had stayed married, and therefore their divorce was what researchers have termed “inefficient”.
Oleksandr (Alex) Zhylyevskyy, an assistant professor of economics at Iowa State, looked at how characteristics of couples in the study such as age, education and race related to their happiness in marriage, separation and divorce, and used that to calculate the inefficiency of divorce. He also took account of of the impact of separation period requirements and child support enforcement, as these were variables that government could influence.
Zhylyevskyy found that removing separation period requirements can decrease the conflict rate between couples and increase the divorce rate. Strict enforcement of child support can decrease the frequency of conflict and divorce, and also cut the number of 'inefficient' divorces.
Zhylyevskyy commented that:
"The effects of the separation periods do not seem that strong. What is more interesting is the policy of how effectively child support payments are enforced. What I have seen is that states have some variation as to how well child support is enforced. In some states, you're more likely to be caught if you're a 'deadbeat parent.' The state can locate you and force you to pay. In other states, that doesn't work that well. So the strength of child support enforcement affects what you think about your divorce opportunities and may also impact bargaining between spouses in marriage."
