Oklahoma Legislators Seek to Shed Divorce Costs

Public policy changes in Oklahoma are likely to reduce the cost of family separation issues to the state.

Oklahoma legislators have referenced research liking single-parent households with poverty, student dropout rates and crime, the Associated Press reports. In attempts to limit the costs of these pitfalls to the state, the Oklahoma House and Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Human Services heard proposals this week to lower the state's incarceration costs.

State representatives suggested that other policy changes, such as tax initiatives to fund juvenile treatment and detention center, would lower incarceration rates in Oklahoma. Senator Constance Johnson proposes sending offenders of nonviolent crimes to rehabilitation rather than prison, to cut the costs of imprisonment and keep parents with their children.

Representative Mark McCullough told the news source that studies estimate divorce costs state taxpayers up to $430 million a year, mainly through public assistance programs. He commented that divorce "affects government directly" and insisted that a low budge requires legislators to "shift our focus and our thinking."

Research by the National Center for Health Statistics reported that in 2007, Oklahoma had the third highest divorce rate among U.S. states with 5.2 divorces for every 1,000 people.