Post-marital economics

Did you know that divorces help an economy grow? Neither did i until last week before I stumbled upon an article co-relating the two human aspects. Turns out when a couple decides to leave each other for good, it isn’t entirely bad for the economy. The reason is pretty stark: When two individuals stay together, household budget tends to shrink as savings are in. However, when they go their separate ways, they spend more thus contributing to the fiscal machinery. The term ‘divorce’ itself gets associated with Western culture since it’s generally accepted—with no research to back it—that Westerners divorce as easily as they get married. What one can also state here is the fact that they don’t tolerate bad marriages as earnestly as we Indians do. But that’s seldom the popular perception among us. Going back to the economy, wouldn’t it be convenient to postulate that Western economies thrive because there are relatively more annulments happening in those countries? Well, this thought could have held ground if Cuba wasn’t in the West and had the highest divorce rate in the world with three out of four couples opting for court instead of counselors. And it’s a no-brainer that the Communist country—despite world-class medical care (including free penile enlargement surgeries)—ain’t really an paradise for economics, Michael Moore notwithstanding.