Incentives matter: divorce in Japan
The divorce rate in Japan has increased steadily until 2003, when the rate began to dip:
The increase is credited to cultural changes that have made divorce a more acceptable option. The recent decrease seems to be economically motivated: women are putting off divorce to take advantage of a law passed in 2003 to take effect in 2007 that allows for a better divorce settlement. If this explanation is true, we should see a spike in the number of divorces in 2007.
From Japundit:
The increase is credited to cultural changes that have made divorce a more acceptable option. The recent decrease seems to be economically motivated: women are putting off divorce to take advantage of a law passed in 2003 to take effect in 2007 that allows for a better divorce settlement. If this explanation is true, we should see a spike in the number of divorces in 2007.
From Japundit:
Japan is slated to revise its divorce law in April 2007, making women entitled to receive up to half of their spouse’s pension payments. Until now, a woman who divorced her husband could receive only a basic pension up to a maximum of 66,000 yen a month.On the other hand, we may not see a spike in the divorce rate if husbands have responded to the law by treating their wives better. After all, this law creates financial incentives for them as well.
posted by a singapore economist at 1:15 AM
3 Comments:
how about giving your analysis on the state of public transport in Singapore?
For example, when the NEL was opened, some convenient direct bus services were withdrawn. But why should they? Why not let some other operator who can operate those routes cheaper and more efficiently do so and let market forces take over?
Thanks for the suggestion, anonymous. I won't have the time to address the issue in the immediate future but I will keep it in mind.
As the increase was due to divorce being more acceptable, the recent decrease could be due to the fact many of those who have wanted to get divorced for sometime, have now done this.
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