INFORMATION INDUSTRY IN LOCAL GOVERMENT Shift in leadership and slowdown in domestic, market growth increases local government information businesses In the past, the federal government has had virtually no competition as the largest information supplier worldwide. Matthew Lesko, in the October 1, 1986 edition of Data Base Informer describes how state and local governments are likely to challenge that position in the future. He sees two primary reasons for an acceleration of this phenomenon: (1) the shift in leadership from the federa~ government to the state and local levels, and (2) the slowdown in domestic market growth for most companies causing executives to seek out new and more targeted market segments to sell their products. Even· now some population data may be more current and often cheaper and easier to obtain locally than from the federal government. Some state data centers actually give away the same information for which the U.S. Bureau of the Census charges several hundred dollars. State Labor divisions sometimes give marketing executives free customized industry data for as · many as 200 zip codes in three surrounding states-all on small PC floppy diskettes. Many state governments are beginning to sell the information they collect. For example, New York has a database that sells for $1500/year plus $15/hour. that includes legislative information and pending bills. The market place is also changing. Companies have become aware of the need to market to very specific audiences. Different regions (and more specifically, zipcode areas) are attracted to different colors and flavors. This kind of market focus demands the kind of data that can be found best at the state and local level. /1 Already they can generate such specific information as cancer incident rate by county to the names and addresses of all men over six feet tall who wear glasses." THE DIVORCE REVOLUTION Presently divorced women and their children suffer an immediate 73 % drop in their standard of living, while their ex-husbands enjoy a 42 % rise in their standard of living. While mating and death have always been part of the universal human experience, and the laws and customs that govern the transfers of property that they occasion have grown and developed over centuries, a high divorce rate is a relatively recent phenomenon in our society. Presently, over a million couples in the United States divorce each year. The amount of money being transferred upon divorce now /1 rivals and exceeds" the amount passed by will or inter-state sucession in the United States. Demographers project that at least half of current American marriages will eventually end in divorce. Also, by 1990 only 40% of the children born in the United States will spend their entire childhood living with both natural parents. Between 1970 and 1980, 48 states adopted some form of no-fault divorce law. On the surface these laws sought to eliminate the stigma of divorce and to create equality between men and women. Leonore J. Weitzman, in her book, The Divorce Revolution, provides a startling picture of the results of the new no-fault divorce laws. Based on ten years of research, Weitzman finds that both women and children have suffured from the changes in law. For example, presently divorced women and their children suffer an immediate 73% drop in their standard of living, while their ex-husbands enjoy a 42% rise in their standard of living. The book begins with an exploration of the history.of marriage and divorce laws in America and ends with some suggestions for keeping the best of the no-fault divorce laws while increasing the powers of women and children. For More Information: The Divorce Revolution, Lenore J. Weitzman, Free Press, 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022, $19.95, 1985, 504pp. Fall/Winter 1986 RAIN Page 25
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