New Paper Shows Divorce Hurts U.S. Economic Growth

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Mar 16, 2012, 03:21 ET

Research Shows Divorce Removes A Fourth of Head-of-Household Productivity Growth

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), a project of the Family Research Council (FRC), released a new paper looking at a major player in macroeconomic growth – intact marriage. Titled, "The Divorce Revolution Perpetually Reduces U.S. Economic Growth: Divorce Removes a Fourth of Head-of-Household Productivity Growth," the paper shows divorce causes men to become less productive. Thus, acculturated divorce is undermining America's prospects for recovery and prosperity. The paper is authored by MARRI Senior Fellow Henry Potrykus, Ph.D., and MARRI Director Patrick Fagan, Ph.D.

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Of the paper, Dr. Potrykus said:

"Marriage causes economic growth. Married men experience greater rates of income increase than single men, and the rate of income increase for a newly divorced man drops almost to that of his always-single counterparts through the divorce. Because of this, the explosion of divorce in this country has resulted in a loss in productivity growth. The divorce revolution has undermined growth in the U.S. economy.

"Besides population effects originating in the 1960s and 1970s, there are no other consequences of policy change that have had a greater effect in slowing economic growth than the divorce revolution."

To read the paper, "The Divorce Revolution Perpetually Reduces U.S. Economic Growth: Divorce Removes a Fourth of Head-of-Household Productivity Growth," click here: http://marri.us/productivity-divorce

SOURCE Family Research Council