Resolution Through Negotiation

Family law and child custody representation in Minnesota's Twin Cities.

Book gets Minnesotans talking about divorce

On Behalf of | Jul 24, 2014 | Firm News |

French economist, Thomas Piketty, is receiving world-wide attention after publishing a book titled, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” According to reports, the book posits that capitalism may grow out of fashion in the future. While the assertion is sure to ruffle feathers here in capitalistic America, his book does raise other issues, which have sparked a constructive conversation.

Like any book with such a topic, erasing inequality is touted as the ideal. One of the causes of inequality, many argue, is the steep rise in family fragmentation. While some assert that the rise in the divorce rate and, derivatively, kids growing up in broken homes has caused inequality. Others, like University of Minnesota professor, Ann Tyler May, suggest it may be the other way around.

May posits that family fragmentation is a symptom, not the cause, of economic hardship. While the answer to the debate may seem like a semantic chicken and egg quarrel, the issues are front and center for many prominent thinkers. These societal questions, of course, matter little to the Minnesota family working to make the best possible lives for their kids.

Whether large scale numbers suggest family fragmentation harms children and the economy or not, it is a fact that parents and kids from a split household can and do live very successful lives. Doing so, however, requires some proactivity and commitment.

Local St. Paul area attorneys can help parents work their way through the divorce process in a way that ensures their family is given the best possible chance to succeed. From working through contentious issues, such as alimony to spousal support to defining the all-important parenting agreement, local family law experts can help parents glide through a divorce. With help may are able to come out on the other end ready and able to achieve all the goals they had before the relationship came to an end.

Source: Minnesota Post, “Considering Thomas Piketty, inequality and family fragmentation,” Mitch Pearlstein, July 21, 2014