acotra.substack.com/p/exit-rights
1 correction found
No-fault divorce, established in most of the Western world by the mid-twentieth century, is probably the most important of these.
This dates no-fault divorce too early. In much of the Western world, no-fault divorce was introduced in the 1970s or later, not by the mid-20th century.
Full reasoning
“Mid-twentieth century” usually means roughly the 1940s–1950s, but comparative legal histories place the spread of no-fault divorce in the Western world mostly after that period.
A comparative IZA paper summarizing divorce-law reforms across 18 European countries reports that many Western European countries introduced no-fault divorce only in the 1970s or later: France (1976), Greece (1979), Italy (1975), the Netherlands (1971), Portugal (1977), Spain (1981), the UK (1971), and Ireland (1997). That directly contradicts the claim that it had been established in most of the Western world by the mid-20th century.
The same late timing appears in major English-speaking countries outside Europe. In the United States, HISTORY’s timeline says states typically required proof of misconduct until the no-fault reforms of the 1960s and 1970s; California was first in 1969, and New York was the last state to adopt no-fault divorce in 2010. In Australia, the Australian Institute of Family Studies says the Family Law Act 1975 (implemented in January 1976) introduced no-fault divorce.
So while no-fault divorce is indeed widespread today, the article’s dating is off by decades: it was generally not established across most of the Western world until the 1970s and later, not by the mid-20th century.
3 sources
- The Effect of Divorce Laws on Divorce Rates in Europe
Table 1 summarizes the main changes in divorce laws that took place in 18 European countries between 1950 and 2003... Column 2 shows the year when no-fault grounds for divorce were first introduced... France 1976, Greece 1979, Italy 1975, Netherlands 1971, Portugal 1977, Spain 1981, UK 1971, Ireland 1997.
- A Timeline of Divorce in America | HISTORY
Until the introduction of no-fault divorce in the 1960s and '70s, states typically required one partner to prove the other's misconduct... In September 1969, California became the first state to legalize no-fault divorce... New York became the last state to adopt no-fault divorce laws in 2010.
- Divorces in Australia | Australian Institute of Family Studies
The Family Law Act 1975, implemented in January 1976, allowed a divorce based on ‘irretrievable breakdown’, known as ‘no-fault divorce’.