The Economist recently had a fascinating piece on how the economic downturn may be affecting the divorce rate. Wives of high-earners seem to be walking out at a higher rate, fearing their husbands' earning power will fall and wanting the divorce settlement to be based on current earnings. But middle class couples, their wealth overwhelmingly reflected in the falling price of their house, may stick together more because it seems a bad time to sell and mortgage lenders are more stingy with the credit needed to buy.
It's a decidedly unromantic look at why some couples do and don't stay together, but it does just further demonstrate that central insight of economics that incentives really matter. It also doesn't seem much of a stretch to draw another conclusion: if these financial incentives make a difference to whether some couples stay together, so we can expect the same of David Cameron's proposals to recognise and incentivise marriage in the tax system.
