Why Are Women More Likely to Ask for a Divorce Than Men?

In a presentation conducted by the American Sociological Association, researchers reported that women were (by far) more likely to ask for a divorce than their husbands. Non-marital breakups, on the other hand, tended to be more gender-neutral. The results of this finding came from a survey called “How Couples Meet and Stay Together.” The survey collected information from 2,262 adults with opposite-sex partners who answered questions about their relationship status between 2009 and 2015. The study indicated that women initiate 69% of all divorces compared to 31% of men. Unmarried couples, on the other hand, were split down the middle.

Almost all studies conducted on the matter show that women are more likely to ask for a divorce than men. Conductors of the study opined that women tend to be more sensitive to the ups and downs of marriage than their male counterparts. This renders them more likely to leave unions earlier than men. But the latest data suggests that there may be more to the story than sensitivity to the ups and downs of marriage. Instead, women may be responding to the still archaic conventions involved with a spouse’s role in a marriage even as gender equality has seen great gains in other institutions such as the workplace.

One researcher said, “I think marriage as an institution has been a little slow to catch up with expectations for gender equality. Wives still take their husbands’ surnames, and are sometimes pressured to do so. Husbands still expect their wives to do the bulk of the housework and the bulk of the childcare. On the other hand, I think that non-marital relationships lack the historical baggage and expectations of marriage, which makes the non-marital relationships more flexible and therefore more adaptable to modern expectations … of gender equality.”

This tracks with other studies that have shown that wives who feel like their husbands aren’t pulling their weight when it comes to housework and childcare are more likely to divorce their husbands. One study indicated that married women carry a heavier burden of housework and childcare than single mothers.

For this study, researchers examined 24-hour time-use diaries from participants in the nationally representative American Time Use Survey (ATUS) between 2003 and 2012. This data focuses on white, black, and Hispanic mothers ages 18 to 54 with at least one child under the age of 13 living with them. The analysis took into account both weekday and weekend schedules, and other differences such as employment, education, age of the children, and the presence of other extended family members.

Ultimately, the study showed that married mothers did significantly more housework and slept less than mothers who were never married or even divorced mothers. The results were surprising because they ran counter to the notion that single mothers tend to devote the majority of their time to raising kids and keeping house. The findings also indicated that mothers tend to have less leisure time and sleep less than single mothers or fathers.

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Source:

prb.org/resources/married-women-with-children-and-male-partners-do-more-housework-than-single-moms/