Divorce Day needs a rethink

Copying their counterparts in the USA, British retailers have started promoting major sales on the Friday following the American Thanksgiving holiday.

On Black Friday 2013, Brits spent record amounts buying from online and in bricks-and-mortar stores. In this season's pre-Christmas sales hype, retailers looked forward to a windfall as they eagerly promoted one-day-only discounts to focus the public mind on shopping.

There are already signs that this approach may actually be backfiring on store owners.

Heads of major retailers such as John Lewis are suggesting that this concentration on one day is counterproductive, as it places huge burdens on their delivery services and increases customer complaints.

Even now, though, retailers say almost nothing at all about the much greater problem their Black Friday approach will have caused – specifically, the delayed pain still to come for the many individuals who, caught up in the moment, will have overspent.

It's fine to celebrate the fact that people feel confident enough in the economy to spend. But we shouldn't do so while largely ignoring the problem of credit card debt.

The challenge of indebtedness continues to grow. This is borne out by statistics, but also by the rapid growth in the number of charities set up to tackle it – and the success of payday loan companies who promise a quick fix solution.

Against this backdrop, creating something called Divorce Day arguably trivialises – and perhaps, albeit indirectly, celebrates – the idea of 'shopping' for the break up of one's family.

Fortunately, if the runes of popular culture are anything to go by, marriage may be under threat but it is far from a moribund institution. Even among celebrities, a class in society not always associated with long-term relationships, marriage has had good press of late.

For example, much was made in 2014 of the wedding involving Goerge Clooney and British lawyer Amal Alamuddin. After declaring himself 'not the marrying kind' for decades, Clooney admitted that he was looking forward to becoming a husband and was 'marrying up'.

Film stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt also tied the knot last year.

Though the initial impetus for their decision to marry came from their children, Pitt noted that he was 'surprised afterwards at the effect that getting married has had on us - it was more than just a ceremony, it meant a real depth of commitment.'

Dame Helen Mirren, one of Britain's finest actors, agrees: '[Marriage] is not a state of bliss and there was a time when I never wanted to be married. Now I love it. I like being part of a team and a partnership.'