It Takes Two: The Family in Law and Finance

Elaine G. Porter is an associate professor of sociology at Laurentian
University.

In this book, economists, family lawyers, and a policy analyst deal with
two of the most contentious issues in family–state relations: no-fault
divorce laws and taxation policy. The first four chapters argue that
no-fault divorce has increased divorce rates to the detriment of women
and children. Allen presents correlational evidence that no-fault
divorce laws have caused divorce rates to rise. The argument is
subsequently made that the effects of divorce on children and women are
generally so shattering that except in clear-cut cases of abuse, divorce
is inefficient. Brinig promotes such solutions as compensation for
housework during marriage, joint custody, and requiring mutual consent
for divorce. Moir, having analyzed the effects of divorce on children,
recommends something similar to the covenant marriage legislated in
Louisiana.

The last two chapters contend that tax laws should be reformed.
Boessenkool discusses tax policies that are meant to be fairer to
couples above the poverty line and to single-earner families;
Richards’s advocacy of earnings supplements is based on his analysis
of the earnings-based alternatives to the “poverty traps” of social
assistance. Wedged between the chapters on divorce and those on taxation
is a chapter that argues that homosexual couples do not need access to
heterosexual marriage benefits because they do not have children.

It’s difficult to take some of the arguments in this book at face
value, since the authors themselves (in particular Moir) offer
surprisingly candid admissions regarding the incompleteness of their
conclusions. Although heavy on ideology, the chapters on fiscal changes
contain solid information; the chapters on divorce are analytically weak
and anchored in wishful, if not deleterious, thinking.