Separation and Divorce
Have Been a Boon to the Economy

Robert Glossop

Suggestions that today's adults are simply greedy in insisting on two wages per family, are, although quite correct, fundamentally misplaced. Modern industrial states need individuals to increase their appetites as consumers. Economists regard the purchasing power of families as a major engine of economic growth and development. Contrary to popular belief that holds that stable families are the backbone of a strong economy, separation and divorce have been for the past twenty years, a boon to the economy. They have become, after all, one of the main reasons for “household formation”, and when two households replace one, they consume an extra sofa, living room suite, microwave oven, etc. at least until remarriage creates from this consumption the inventory for garage sales. Indeed, from a strictly economic point of view, one would now have to fear the re-emergence of stable families and the collapse of the divorce industry.

There is one further reason why both men and women must now commit themselves to the labour market. The modern state has an ever-expanding appetite for tax dollars. Our system of taxation is based primarily upon taxing personal income. The state needs more people with incomes to tax. Cynical though it may be, this proves more convincing than all the sociological, economical and ethical arguments one can muster when debating with those politicians, policy-makers and citizens who naively assume that the world would be a better place if women would first return to and stay in their kitchens.

From Community Action, Jan. 21/91, Vol.6, No.9. From “Today's Families: Continuity, Change and Challenge” by Robert. Glossop Ph.D. This article originally appeared in “Transition”, Sept., 1990, published by the Vanier Institute for the Family, Ottawa”.

(CX5069)

Subject Headings

• Divorce
• Family
• Separation

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