INTRODUCTION

Among liberal egalitarian feminists, few issues in the past twenty years have more starkly raised questions about gender inequalities and legal institutions than the economic and social consequences of divorcelaw reforms since the early 1970s. These reforms, which began in California in 1970 and were adopted virtually throughout Canada and the United States over the subsequent decade, allowed for easier divorce, ending the legal requirement that one of the parties be found at fault. The initial effect of these reforms was a significant acceleration in the divorce rate. The extent to which the divorce rate has stabilized remains unclear. While some conservatives attacked easier divorce because they viewed it as a threat to the traditional institution of the family, many egalitarians viewed it as progressive, especially from the perspective of women, because it offered the opportunity to lift the yoke of unhappy and repressive marriages. Women continue to petition for divorces at much higher rates than men; these legal reforms make those applications easier, and increase their likelihood of success.

Parallel to these developments were discoveries about the changing face of poverty. In the early 1970s, poverty rates in both the United States and Canada were at record lows. However, beginning in the mid-1970s, poverty rates on most standard indices began to climb, and despite an often-booming economy, have not declined significantly. Poverty was said to have a new face because women and children made up a much greater portion of the poor than before.