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From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Divorce Law Reform

Divorce law reform began in 1970 when California passed the nation’s first no-fault divorce law. Until then, married people wanting to end their marriage had to engage in an adversarial process that required one of the partners to accuse the other of committing an act that the state recognized as an acceptable reason for divorce. Adultery was a reason recognized in every state, and some states permitted divorces for mental or physical cruelty, desertion, refusal to have sexual relations, or imprisonment. In contrast, a no-fault divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, could be obtained when irreconcilable differences resulted in the breakdown of a marriage, eliminating the need to assign fault to one of the partners. By 1985, every state had some form of no-fault divorce provision. In 2010, New York became the last state to adopt a full no-fault divorce law. Even though divorce reform spread across the country as the modern feminist movement developed, women did not seek the changes and had little influence in developing the new policies. The greater ease in obtaining divorces resulted in an increase in them. In 1966, there were 2.5 divorces per 1,000 people, and in 1981, there were 5.3 divorces per 1,000 people. The rate declined to about 4.7 per thousand people in the mid-1980s, 3.7 in 2004, and 3.4 in 2009. By 2017, the rate of divorce had dropped again to 2.9 per thousand.

See also: Child Support Enforcement; Displaced Homemakers; Feminization of Poverty; Pay Equity

References: Riley, Divorce: An American Tradition (1991); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov. (accessed July 16, 2012 and June 28, 2019).

Citation Types

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MLA 9th
"Divorce Law Reform." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0270.
APA 7th
Divorce Law Reform. From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0270.
CMOS 17th
"Divorce Law Reform." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0270.