The Morgunbladid reports today that a Parliamentary resolution has been proposed to compare the position of married couples, and couples living together legally, to the status of single parents. A government appointed committee will investigate tax, insurance and social conditions of the two groups. The resolution’s accompanying report says that there are examples of married couples divorcing to reap the financial benefits offered to single parents. Those benefits include among others a child pension and household supplement.
According to the Morgunbladid the report quotes a minister of the Icelandic church saying he knows of examples of couples divorcing for financial benefits. Last year 1,472 couples were married in Iceland and 552 were divorced. The committee will also investigate whether it is possible to strengthen the institution of marriage and legal cohabitation. The committee will report its findings to Parliament no later than December 1, 2006.
