With The Recession Ending, Divorce Rates Are Creeping Up

Although hard economic times come with higher rates of domestic violence, more stressed marriages, and more desertion without divorce, they also oddly come with very low divorce rates. The reason? Many couples simply can’t afford to get divorced and start new lives and many couples are just struggling to survive financially instead of focusing on their relationship.

Since the recession began in 2008, divorce rates across the country and in Washington State dropped – and continued dropping over the next two years. Now, however, the first reports of the divorce rate creeping up could be a sign that the recession is finally coming to an end. Some attorneys in the Northwest have reported that their divorce caseload has increased by 15 percent in the past few months.

While the news of higher divorce rates is never heartening, in this case it does come with a positive angle: more couples are financially able to move on with their lives and end unhealthy relationships, and fewer people will be trapped in bad marriages because of money problems.