Study Reveals the Most Often-Cited Reasons Behind U.S. Divorces

While every state in the country allows for no-fault divorces, that doesn’t mean that the couple wasn’t in conflict when they chose to divorce. It just means that neither party blames the other for the breakdown of the marriage in court. Nonetheless, according to a Forbes Advisor Survey, couples cited the most commonly reported reasons for ending their marriages. The study also provided several other key insights into why couples are choosing to divorce.

Irreconcilable differences

 When you get a divorce, you have to tell the court why the marriage broke down. All states now allow no-fault divorces. Some states don’t allow fault-based divorces at all. That makes the most common reason for getting a divorce “irreconcilable differences.”

However, the Forbes study indicated that only 5% of couples believed that their differences were actually irreconcilable. In general, divorcees who were surveyed believed that had their spouse exhibited different behaviors, their marriage could have been saved. 63% of those surveyed indicated that having a better understanding of commitment prior to marriage could have stopped their union from collapsing. 56% said that they may not have divorced at all had they had a better understanding of their spouse’s morals and values. 40% believed that their marriage could have been saved had they waited longer to get married and start a family.

The most common reasons for divorcing

 According to the Forbes study, the most common reason for getting a divorce was a lack of family support. This is surprising as financial factors are widely cited as the most common reason that couples divorce. However, financial factors came in as the 6th most often cited factor contributing to divorce with 24% of respondents citing financial stress as the key reason for their divorce.

Infidelity was a very popular reason for divorce and the second-most cited factor for dissolving a marriage. 34% of respondents said that they ended their marriage due to an extramarital affair.

Lack of compatibility, lack of intimacy, and too much conflict or arguing were the third, fourth, and fifth most likely reasons that couples pursued a divorce. 31% of respondents claimed that those factors directly contributed to their decision to divorce.

Those who divorced in the first year of marriage were more likely to cite a lack of compatibility as their rationale for divorcing. In marriages that lasted between 2 to 8 years, a lack of family support was cited as the most likely reason to end the marriage. For marriages that lasted 8 years or longer, infidelity and a lack of intimacy were the most commonly cited factors leading to divorce.

Talk to a Philadelphia Divorce Attorney Today 

The Philadelphia family lawyers at The Law Offices of Lauren H. Kane represent the interests of couples pursuing a divorce in the state of Pennsylvania. Call our office today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin preparing your divorce settlement right away.

Source:

forbes.com/advisor/legal/divorce/common-causes-divorce/#less_than_5_of_divorcees_say_their_marriage_couldnt_be_saved_section