logo
ENع
#

Latest news with #BetseyStevenson

Stocks Hit Highest Since February on Jobs Surprise
Stocks Hit Highest Since February on Jobs Surprise

Bloomberg

time3 days ago

  • Business
  • Bloomberg

Stocks Hit Highest Since February on Jobs Surprise

Bloomberg Television brings you the latest news and analysis leading up to the final minutes and seconds before and after the closing bell on Wall Street. Today's guests are Bloomberg Television brings you the latest news and analysis leading up to the final minutes and seconds before and after the closing bell on Wall Street. Today's guests are Katie Nixon, Northern Trust, Betsey Stevenson, University of Michigan, Dan Dolev, Mizuho, Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings, Earn Your Leisure, Matthew Griffin, Bloomberg News, Barry Bannister, Stifel, Jess Menton, Bloomberg News, Ed Ludlow, Bloomberg News, Stacy Rasgon, Bernstein Research, Frances Katzen, Douglas Elliman, Brett Winton, Ark Invest, Tony Zaccario, Stretch Zone, Nicole Camarre, 43North. (Source: Bloomberg)

Does No Fault Divorce Help Or Harm Women?
Does No Fault Divorce Help Or Harm Women?

Forbes

time09-04-2025

  • General
  • Forbes

Does No Fault Divorce Help Or Harm Women?

Woman getting divorced History of No Fault Divorce in America Marriage is a state sanctioned contract between two willing adults. Divorce is the legal process that ends a marriage, requiring a 'cause of action' or fault, the legal basis upon which if proved the Court can grant a divorce and the right to remarry. Each state has its own residency requirements (amount of time you must reside in the state to utilize its divorce laws) and its own laws of divorce and the ancillary issues including child custody, child support, spousal support and distribution of property. Prior to 1969, causes of action for divorce included fault-based actions in which one spouse made claims against the other such as adultery, abandonment or cruel and inhuman treatment. The cause of action for a divorce, if contested, required litigation between the spouses as to the grounds for divorce in which courts had to make a determination as to whether one spouse had met their burden of proving the grounds (usually by a preponderance of the evidence but some states may utilize a different burden of proof) against the other. If the spouse seeking to divorce failed to prove his or her cause of action, there could be no divorce granted and the ancillary issues could not be addressed by the Court. No fault divorce came into existence in 1969 when then Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, signed it into law in the Family Court Act. No fault did not require blame allowing a divorce if one spouse claimed irreconcilable differences or irretrievable breakdown against the other. By the 1980's most states adopted no fault divorce causes of action. As of today, all fifty states adopted a cause of action in divorce based upon no fault. New York, the state where I practice, was last to do so in 2010. It is notable that following the passage of no fault divorce, beginning in the early 1970's, no fault divorce enabled millions of people, most of them women to file for divorce based on irreconcilable differences. Reported Benefits of No Fault Divorce The National Bureau of Economic Research reported in 2005 that 'states that passed unilateral divorce laws saw female suicide decline by around 20% in the long run'. Economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania report that states that enacted no fault divorce laws experienced an 8%-16% decrease in suicide rates for wives and a 30% decline in domestic violence. No fault divorce is beneficial to spouses caught in an abusive marriage. In New York, by example, the longer the marriage in duration, the more difficult was the burden of proof and level of cruelty that had to be proved in order to divorce an abusive spouse on grounds of 'cruel and inhuman' treatment. The thinking being, 'if you stayed with him for twenty years, it couldn't have been that bad.' No fault divorce allows the woman to leave the abusive spouse without the need of proving in a court, the necessary level of cruelty according that state's laws to divorce. The Vice President of Policy at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Marium Durrani, 'any barrier to divorce is a really big challenge for survivors. What it really ends up doing is prolonging their forced entanglement with an abusive partner.' My Experience Before No Fault in New York In my divorce and family law practice, in New York City, a middle-aged woman in her 60's sought to divorce her husband. She was severely diabetic. The husband perceived himself as her caretaker. She saw him as her abuser. She did not want him around her. He refused to consider any method or means of divorce in New York (which included at the time a separation agreement in effect for a year). She was so distraught that she stopped taking her medication, refused to eat, and died rather than be married to him. In another case, my client, the husband, had to move to a state where the residency requirement was 6 months or less (Nevada, New Jersey, and Florida), establish residency and retain counsel in the foreign state to divorce and preserve his right in that state to equitable distribution (distribution of marital property), spousal maintenance, child custody and child support so that separate litigation could be commenced in New York to resolve child custody and financial interests. I represented a woman married in the Jewish orthodox tradition whose husband would not consent to divorce her after she moved out and began cohabitating with a woman in a lesbian relationship. She had to move to Nevada in order to establish residency, hire an attorney in Nevada to commence a divorce against her husband. I worked with her Nevada attorney to preserve her rights to the marital financial interests in New York. Her husband appealed the Nevada divorce but it was upheld by the Appellate Court in Nevada. If a client had children under age 18, or they had full-time employment in New York, temporarily relocating was not a possibility as they could not afford to leave their children or their job (working from home wasn't an option) for such an extended period of time. Relocating across the Hudson River to New Jersey allowed for some working spouses to commute to work in New York City while establishing residency in New Jersey for divorce purposes. I recall a trial in Bronx, New York during which my client claimed as grounds for divorce 'constructive abandonment' (the divorcing spouse claimed that the other spouse refused sexual relations for a year) against his Wife. After trial testimony in which the Wife testified 'I want to engage in sexual relations,' no divorce was granted. Even parties who both wanted to divorce utilizing these grounds, one or both was forced to commit perjury by acknowledging something that wasn't true. As an officer of the court I had to advise clients not to tell me anything about what was really happening in their bedroom and then advise them of what they needed to say in order to be divorced, of course, 'if true.' As an attorney, I cannot suborn perjury. New York, the last state to enact No Fault Divorce New York no fault divorce was signed into law by then Gov. David Patterson in 2010. The opponents of the law included the Roman Catholic Church as well as some women's groups who feared that no fault would deprive poor women of leverage they needed to obtain a fair financial settlement from husband's seeking to divorce them. The Women's Bar Association of the State of New York reversed its opposition to the cause of action in 2004 and supported no fault. The Current Backlash against No Fault Opponents of 'no fault' argue that it is hurting families and American culture because it makes divorce too easy. Making divorce too easy causes social upheaval by devaluing the family and thereby undermining the foundation of a thriving society, they argue. Another criticism is that no fault divorce led to a spike in divorces. It is true that there was a spike following the enactment of the law by state, but once the backlog of people who had been unable to divorce actually divorced, the number of divorces dropped to a fifty year low in 2019. Ronald Reagan claimed signing the no fault grounds into law was his biggest regret, as reported by his son Michael.

We've Come So Far, So Why Aren't Women Thriving?
We've Come So Far, So Why Aren't Women Thriving?

Forbes

time07-04-2025

  • Health
  • Forbes

We've Come So Far, So Why Aren't Women Thriving?

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO - AUGUST 8, 2018: Photo byIn the twenty-first century, women are achieving more than ever before. They're breaking barriers in boardrooms, earning degrees at unprecedented rates and reshaping leadership across industries. On the surface, the arc of progress looks promising. And yet—a quieter, more unsettling trend is emerging. Despite these extraordinary gains, recent research published in PNAS Nexus highlights two deeply perplexing contradictions in women's psychological well-being: the paradox of declining female happiness and the paradox of the contented female worker. Each exposes how empowerment and emotional fulfillment don't always move in tandem. The paradox of declining female happiness is perhaps the most disorienting development in gender research. Across numerous countries and over several decades, studies show that even as women gain rights, independence and career advancement, their reported happiness levels have, paradoxically, decreased. Dr. Betsey Stevenson, a labor economist and professor at the University of Michigan, remarked: 'We expected happiness to rise as barriers fell. But instead, what we saw was a growing gap between women's and men's reported well-being.' This disconnect may stem from the unseen mental and emotional load that modern women bear. As they ascend professionally, they are still disproportionately responsible for caregiving and household management—a cognitive and emotional strain often invisible in metrics of success. Psychologist Dr. Ali Mattu explains: 'There's a cultural narrative that says you can and should do it all. But psychologically, multitasking between so many high-stakes roles creates chronic stress. Even achievement can feel like pressure.' This burden leads to what many women describe as emotional ambivalence: the coexistence of pride in progress and quiet exhaustion with its price. The second finding is equally striking. Despite pay gaps, limited leadership opportunities and structural inequalities, women consistently report equal or higher job satisfaction than men—a pattern known as the paradox of the contented female worker. Sociologist Dr. Claudia Goldin, whose research focuses on women in the workforce, offered an insight: 'Satisfaction isn't always a reflection of fairness. Sometimes, it reflects recalibrated expectations. If a system trains you to expect less, you can feel grateful for crumbs.' Some experts believe that satisfaction in this context may not indicate happiness but rather resilience and adaptation. Women may express contentment not because conditions are ideal but because they've developed psychological strategies to cope within environments that haven't fully embraced equity. These paradoxes reveal a more profound truth: progress, without emotional and structural alignment, is incomplete. While opportunities have grown, the infrastructures of support—mental health access, equitable labor division and workplace inclusivity—haven't always kept pace. Feminist scholar Dr. Nancy Fraser calls this 'progressive neoliberalism'—where individual empowerment is emphasized, but collective systems remain unchanged. 'We celebrate the success stories, but we often fail to see the systemic fatigue underneath. True well-being isn't just about achieving more. It's about thriving sustainably.' To close the gap between progress and well-being, shifting how we define and pursue gender equity might be a fundamental step. Here's how: Because true empowerment is not just about more choices—it's about feeling good while choosing.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store