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Mind the gap

27 March 2015 / Hazel Wright
Issue: 7646 / Categories: Features , Divorce , Family
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Spousal maintenance in a time of change outlined by Hazel Wright

In its research note “Counting the Cost of Family Failure—2015 Update” the Relationships Foundation put the cost to the taxpayer of family breakdown at £47bn, ie £1,546 each year to every taxpayer. The implication is that this is too much and that steps should be taken to reduce the financial impact on those who pay their taxes but do not claim state support.

This article takes a look at how we got to where we are in terms of expecting self-sufficiency of adults whose personal relationships beak down, and what is changing about that.

Swinging sixties

After the swinging sixties, a raft of reforming legislation was passed aimed at addressing how people behave towards each other, both at work and in their relationships with each other and with strangers. Since its roots in 1970 (and see other reforming legislation at the same time such as the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976),

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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