UK Study Suggests Cash Fears Produce Lower Divorce Rates

By Julia Spalding

Published on February 27, 2006

A study to be published in the March 2006 issue of The Economic Journal finds a correlation between a formal child support system introduced in the early 1990s and the country's 15 percent fall in divorce among couples with dependent children.

The controversial study tracked the status of 5,000 families over 12 years. Its authors suggest that several high-profile lawsuits -- including a July 2004 court case that awarded the former wife of Arsenal and England footballer Ray Parlour one-third of his future income -- have instilled a fear of large alimony and palimony payments in potential UK divorcees. Co-author Ian Walker, a professor of economics at Warwick University, notes that, conversely, high child support payments make women more likely to exit a bad marriage.

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