Separation and divorce seriously impact parents, children, the court system and the larger community. For example, children raised in single-parent families on average have lower well-being than children raised in two-parent families on aggregate measures of emotional health, behavioral adjustment, economic well-being, and educational achievement. Furthermore children who have been subjected to a contentious separation or divorce or whose parents struggle for years with emotional and financial issues related thereto may have difficulties into adulthood that range from feelings of sadness and vulnerability, to problems with relationships with other adults, to more serious mental health issues. As stated in a recent article in The New York Times: “[A] large body of research shows that [children of single parents] are more likely than similar children with married parents to experience childhood poverty, act out in class, become teenage parents and drop out of school.”1
Divorce and marital strife can negatively impact workplace productivity, either by increased absences or decreased output while the employee is at work. An employee in the throes of a domestic relations matter is distracted, angry, and depressed, has more absences from work, and while at work, is less productive. When the legal process drags ontoo often for yearsthe employee is drained financially and emotionally. The result is a less productive employee.2
