The economy in the last few years has been hard on many people in Oklahoma. Many have endured loss of income from fewer hours at work or in the case of a job loss, no hours at work. Home values in Tulsa stagnated or fell, often leaving homeowners owing much more on their mortgage than their home would sell for on the real estate market.

For many unhappily married couples, this meant they had to put their divorce plans on hold. No matter how badly they wanted to divorce, the prospect of their property division being focused on the division of their mortgage debt sank many prospective divorces.

However, to the disappointment of many a politician, the delay in these divorces did not alter the couples desire to obtain a divorce, and unsurprisingly, as the economy has begun to rebound, so too has the divorce rate.

In addition to the intangible improvement in the subjective happiness of individuals who are freed from marriages that are long over, and allowed to move on with their lives, there is another economic benefit, at least to the American economy.

All of those divorced couples drive economic activity, as they have to replicate a second household or sell off the family home and create two new households.

This household formation has been limited for the last half-dozen years, and now that some parts of the economy, such as housing starts increasing from 2009 to last year by 67 percent, those households are finally being created.

Now, as the Bloomberg story notes, a divorce can mean a drastic change to your economic position. You want to have careful discussion with your attorney, to ensure your expectations are properly set. If you have to make a major readjustment to your lifestyle, you want to know what to expect, and not have it come as a surprise.

The price of driving national economic growth may mean significant alterations to your lifestyle. For many, it is a price worth paying.