AT A MINIMUM...:

Now one organisation - the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada - is trying to change that with the report "Finding fault with no-fault divorce". The report seeks not only to analyse the damage done by easy divorce, but to make concrete proposals to help rescue marriage.

On easy divorce, it says:

The shift from "fault" to "no-fault" divorce ultimately created a dynamic whereby one unhappy spouse who wanted out - for any reason or no reason at all - could unilaterally do so simply by moving out, be it two months or two years in. The end result is that we speak idealistic words ("till death do us part") on our wedding days, knowing full well that when the going gets tough, we can - and do - get going.

In most countries that have adopted no-fault divorce, marriages have been failing at a disturbing rate. In Canada, for instance, it is estimated that around 40 percent of marriages that took place in the year 2008 will have ended in divorce by 2035. In Australia the rate is around one in three. But there is a glimmer of hope for the newly wed. The IMFC report highlights the fact that in most failing marriages, at least one of the partners will be in favour of trying to salvage the marriage. It also points out that around 85 to 90 per cent of divorces are in the category of "low-conflict divorce" and that among these, two out of three "unhappily married adults" who manage to avoid divorce or separation end up describing themselves as "happily married" five years later.

Given these facts, the report argues that taking steps to save marriages should be considered as "at least as viable an option" as proceeding with divorce. This view is supported by the Institute for American Values, which argues that "unhappy marriages are less common than unhappy spouses". This is because its own research indicates that three out of four "unhappily married adults" are married to someone who is happy with the marriage. The IMFC concludes: "If divorce is pushed by one unhappy spouse, whose partner is happy - which, in a low conflict marriage means they have just as great a chance of being happily married five years later - then unilateral divorce simply makes it easy for the one unhappy partner to leave without explanation or negotiation."

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