Is the Economy Causing Divorces or Preventing Them?

Don't ask the morning news shows.

In an amusing twist, the morning media have reported two completely contrasting stories in the span of one week. NBC reported an 18-percent drop off in divorce filings in one region thanks to the bad economy on July 11. Six days later on July 17, ABC reported a 20-percent increase in divorce filings thanks to the bad economy.

Perhaps you could the say the story was the same, the economy is bad. But can both be true?

Farnoosh Torabi, a correspondent for the financial Web site TheStreet.com, explained on the "Today Show" July 11 that, "for example, we'll take the Miami-Dade County - for example - in south Florida. They had an 18-percent drop-off in divorce filings from January to May of this year, compared to the same period last year...[I]ncidentally, also in that same area, real estate prices have fallen 20 percent."

Chris Cuomo had a different take on "Good Morning America." "Bad economy, could it be bad news for marriages? Well if you start asking the divorce attorneys, they say yes. In New York, one attorney says 20-percent surge in divorce filings since the news on Wall Street," Cuomo reported. He also added that "money in marriages is always an issue."

ABC also used its story as an opportunity to bash wealthy businesspeople. ABC reporter Deborah Roberts said, "But you're also talking about a certain segment of the population. Wall Street folks, and not to paint them all with a broad brush, but a lot of people who maybe did get into this thing for money." Cuomo, meanwhile, came up with the simplest explanation for the high divorce rates (according to ABC): "Money corrupts."