England and Wales are set to introduce no-fault divorce, allowing couples to end marriages more quickly without assigning blame. The government claims the reform will reduce family conflict, but questions remain about whether faster proceedings could lead to higher divorce rates.
Currently, five grounds for divorce exist in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Three involve blame—adultery, unreasonable behaviour, and desertion—enabling proceedings to start immediately and conclude within three to six months. The other two, based on separation, require two years (with consent) or five years (without consent).
Scotland introduced no-fault divorce after one year of separation in 2006. Initially, divorces spiked from 10,875 in 2005 to 13,012 in 2006, but numbers quickly fell. By 2017, divorces had halved to 6,766, though this coincided with a longer-term decline in marriages. The proportion of fault-based divorces in Scotland dropped from 20% before reform to just 6% in 2015, compared to 60% in England and Wales.
In England and Wales, the new law will make no-fault divorce as quick as fault-based divorce, with a minimum six-month timeframe. Research suggests that fault grounds currently enable a quick exit rather than deterring divorce. International studies indicate that no-fault divorce has no lasting effect on divorce rates, only temporary spikes.
