The Ability of Women to Repay Debt After Divorce

SUMMARY

This study uses questions on household repayment problems from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how the transition from marriage to divorce affects default rates by gender. The results show that divorced women are more likely to have repayment problems than divorced men and married-couple households. Further analysis reveals that divorced women who are receiving welfare are significantly less likely to default. Because average welfare benefits decreased in the early 1990s, the results suggest that this decrease provides a partial explanation for why the default rate increased between 1991 and 1995 for divorced women. The effect of welfare on the default rates of divorced men and married couples is insignificant. And there is no evidence that receiving child support and alimony payments significantly affects the probability of default.     

美国破产法2005年修正案之评介——以消费者破产为视角

美国《2005年破产滥用预防及消费者保护法案》在一定程度上实现了近10年来美国银行等金融机构对破产法进行改革的愿望.针对日益严重的消费者滥用破产现象,2005年修正案提出了"收入测试"标准以限定消费者对破产清算程序的随意适用,自动冻结、自由财产和破产免责等制度也都本着强化债权人利益保护的理念作了相应的修订.新破产法最大限度地转变了对债务人的立场,强化了量化抑制破产滥用行为的功能,并建立了对美国经济的双向作用机制.