The Center for Justice Innovation’s Innovator in Residence utilizes the Center’s office space, meeting rooms, office supplies, and technology to move their unique and independent project forward from idea to reality.
Amy Barasch is the Founder and Executive Director of The Divorce Lab.The Divorce Lab is an initiative dedicated to reimagining the divorce system so that individuals and families can transition through divorce with greater dignity, equity, and support.
Grounded in the belief that people should have the freedom to decide when to end a marriage without unnecessary legal, financial, or social barriers, the Divorce Lab advances interdisciplinary research, public education, and policy reform to modernize divorce laws and practices. The Divorce Lab advances concrete local proposals and projects in New York and advances its other priorities nationally. By generating evidence-based solutions, defending no-fault divorce, promoting innovative state-level reforms, and increasing public understanding of the legal realities of marriage and divorce, The Divorce Lab seeks to reduce the harms of the current system and build a more just and family-centered approach to unmarriage.
Meet Amy BaraschDivorce is a declining but common reality in the United States; 42% of first marriages end in divorce, as do a higher percentage of 2nd and 3rd marriages. Most divorces are filed by women, yet divorce takes a particularly tough practical toll on women. Overall, women are poorer after divorce, their employment trajectory suffers during and after divorce, as does their housing stability. For families already living in poverty, the harm is even greater. Ending marriages – or unmarrying – isn’t what is hurting women, our divorce system is.
The crisis is not so much that marriages end, but that we do divorce wrong. Our divorce system is complicated and intimidating, generally requiring the assistance of a lawyer and often other professionals. Lawyers are available at very high cost for high-net-worth individuals, few lawyers are within reach of the middle class, and there are almost no low-cost attorneys at all. Divorces are handled by state courts, and can last for years, destabilizing families and draining them of much-needed resources.
There is currently no national divorce reform organization. The last wave of change started in 1969 and brought no-fault divorce to all 50 states. That change meant people did not have to go through a trial to prove their spouse had committed an offense such as adultery that would allow them to divorce. Today, irreconcilable differences are grounds enough. Despite concerns raised at the time, no-fault did not result in an increase in divorces over the long term. It did result in a decrease in the killing of wives by their husbands and a decrease in female suicide. No-fault has literally saved lives.
The way to address today’s real divorce crisis is to recognize that divorce is a chapter in the life of many families and to identify potential reforms to the divorce process; monitor and defend against state-level legal challenges to the agency and self-determination provided by simple divorces; educate the public about the legal implications of both marriage and divorce; and conduct fresh interdisciplinary research about the best way to unmarry. Making it harder to unmarry helps no one, and in the past has hurt women. Instead, we need to recognize how families shift and re-form today and support people’s well-being throughout the process.