Happily Never After: Why women are more likely to ask for a divorce
updated the 3 May 2019 à 22:4969% of divorces had been initiated by women compared to only 31% by men. Here’s why women are quick to call it quits on marriage.
A new study shows women are more likely to utter the words “I want a divorce” than men. Why is that so? In the past, social scientists came up with flaky reasons such as women being more affected by ups and downs of a relationship, but now, more concrete evidence has arrived.
Researchers looked at data from a 2009 to 2015 survey, titled How Couples Meet and Stay Together, which tracked 2262 American adults’ relationships. Of the relationships that ended in divorce, women were found to be the instigators 69% of the time, according to study author Michael Rosenfeld, associate professor of sociology at Stanford University. The breakups of unmarried, heterosexual couples were fairly egalitarian, with both genders being likely to initiate breakups in a dating relationship.
Why do women instigate?
The reason for this may lie in the archaic conventions of marital roles where women are still expected to overlook household chores, take care of the kids and juggle their career to boot. Rosenfeld believes it’s these unfair expectations placed on women that makes them throw in the towel on their marriage and initiate a breakup more than those who are in non-marital relationships. Being financially independent and just as career minded as their male counterparts, women don’t see why they should tolerate gender inequality in what is supposed to be an equal partnership.
While divorce is never a cause for celebration, the one positive thing we can glean from this is that second wave feminism has given women the freedom to terminate relationships that are deemed dissatisfying or unequal to them without being stigmatized for their decisions.
So men, if you’re not ready to do your part in the childcare and household chores department, don’t expect your wife to be picking up after you for much longer.
Karen George
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Relationship: Why do women always have the last word?
