Who React to to Less Restrictive Divorce Laws?

Objective: To study how divorce behavior in Denmark changed following a July 2013 reform that repealed mandatory separation periods for uncontested divorces, instead allowing for immediate administrative divorce.
Background: Most countries have mandatory separation periods that couples undergo before they can divorce. Separation allows couples a grace-period, during which they may reconcile and stay together. Yet, the impact of separation periods on divorce risk remains understudied.
Methods: Using monthly time series data on divorce rates from 2007-2018 (T=144), the research brief estimates the size and shape of the policy impact of the July 2013 reform. Using monthly administrative population data on all ever-married couples (N*T=40,431,848) the study further calculates the average characteristics of married couples in Denmark who would have remained together absent the reform.
Results: After an initial spike in the divorce rate driven by couples divorcing earlier, the divorce rate settled at a 9.7 percent higher level compared to pre-reform. Couples who divorced because of the reform had been married for fewer years, were ethnic Danish, and had high school degree as highest educational level.
Conclusion: Mandatory separation periods keep a minor, but substantial, share of potential divorcees together.

研究目标：探究自2013年7月丹麦废除对无争议离婚的强制分居期改革后，离婚行为如何发生改变。背景：大多数国家要求夫妻在离婚前经历一段强制分居期。分居期为夫妻提供了一段时间，以便他们有机会和解并维持婚姻。然而，分居期对离婚风险的影响仍鲜有研究。研究方法：利用2007年至2018年的月度离婚率时间序列数据（T=144），本简报估算7月2013年改革政策的冲击大小及形态。利用涵盖所有曾经结婚的夫妻的月度行政人口数据（N*T=40,431,848），研究进一步计算了在改革不存在的情况下，丹麦已婚夫妇的平均特征。研究结果：在由提前离婚的夫妻推动的离婚率初期激增后，离婚率稳定在较改革前高出9.7%的水平。因改革而离婚的夫妻结婚年限较短，为丹麦民族，且最高教育水平为高中。结论：强制分居期使得一小部分，但却是实质性的潜在离婚者维持了婚姻。