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Research shows that women initiate the majority of divorces

When divorces happen in Illinois and around the country, chances are high that the female spouses started the process. One study concluded that wives initiated 80% of divorces. Another study that tracked 355 couples over a 16-year period collected information from both male and female spouses. Although men often had escalating anxiety about their relationships, they did not take action to dissolve their marriages nearly as often as women. The results of that study showed that the wives pursued divorce at twice the rate of husbands.

A third study from the American Sociological Association confirmed the findings of other studies. The data showed that 69% of the divorces resulted from female decisions. Among college-educated women, wives initiated their divorces close to 90% of the time.

Researchers speculate that when women decide to end their marriages, their relationship problems have gone unaddressed or unresolved for a long time. Many reasons motivate them. Financial disagreements represent a common motivation for divorce, but lack of money is not always the problem. Sometimes the way in which a husband spends money causes marital stress. Communication failures between the spouses lead to many divorces as well. Wives might expect their husbands to figure out what they need emotionally without telling them. When husbands fail to respond appropriately, then the wives drift away from the relationship. The disappearance of romantic behavior after marriage also causes disillusionment.

When people reach the point of ending a marriage, legal advice could increase awareness of their rights. They could learn how the law might determine the division of marital property. An attorney could strive to defend a client’s financial interests during negotiations for the divorce settlement.

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