BOOM IN DIVORCES

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 244, 16 October 1942, Page 4

BOOM IN DIVORCES

RECORD FIGURES IN AUSTRALIA STRAIN OF WAR CONDITIONS. SYDNEY, Oct. 6. Divorce petitions are being lodged in New South Wales at the rate of 3500 a year — an all-time record. So far this year some 2000 people have spent approximately £100,000 on regaining their single status. While every other class of litigation is undergoing a war slump, the divorce court is booming. 1 Psychologists and lawyers agree that the emotional strain of war conaitions, often leading to hasty, impulsive marriages, is the main root cause of the present increase in divorce. "But the record figures now reached will be small by comparison with the post-war rush," warns a prominent Sydney divorce barrister. "In England after the last war, special judges had to be put on the Bench to cope with congested divorce lists. The same thing must happen in Australia after this war." In New South Wales, almost 8000 marriages have ended in the court since the war began. This reprer sents a rise of about 30 per cent. over the usual number of peace-time divorce actions. And in the past few months the number of actions has risen more sharply than ever. "Allotment marriages" are seen by some solicitors as a chief cause of divorce. Many girls are said to have married simply for their soldierhusbands' allotment. Divorced, they get alimony — so they gain financially either way. But while Service marriages feature prommently on the divorce lists, it appears that the war has also disrupted the lives of a great many civilian couples. "These are stirring, reckless, emotional times," says Dr A. f! Martin, a Sydney psychologist. "Few people can escape being affected by them. There is a definite departure from the old moral regime. Old commandants and taboos are being disregarded. FILM PUBLICITY BLAMED. "War urges us to live from day to day, and many people think it hardly worth while to make plans for the future. The unfortunate wartime philosophy is 'rush in and gjab what you can.' It is also sound reasoning, if somewhat flippantly phrased, that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder — of somebody else'; and this undoubtedly is one reason* for the great number of divorces among Servicemen." Film publicity for divorce, by which "glamourised stars" are brought under public notice every time they change their "life's partner," is blamed for popularising the divorce courts. "The films, too, treat divorce sympathetically and even make it seem romantic," points out a Sydney lawyer. "It has become fashionable, whereas once it was cbnsidered a disgrace." Splitting of homes, through the compulsory evacuation of families, or because of a husband 's or wife's war service, has been a factor in ending many Australian marriages. Noteworthy is the fact that twothirds of the divorces are sought by childless couples. Increased industrial opportunities for women, with high wages and new economic freedom, have helped to weaken home ties— especially when family ties are absent. V