Divorce Statistics By Reason

If you have been to the homepage of our website, you would know that the United States of America is in extremely poor form when it comes to placing on the list of divorce statistics by reason. America is second to only Sweden when it comes to the countries with the highest percentage of marriage break ups. Not a feat to crow about. A lot has been discussed about the causes for the extremely steep rate of split-ups in the United States, with everyone eagerly giving their own theories as to why marital relationships break up.

The reason, however, is that each individual break up may have its own reason for the failure of the relationship. Or it may be a combination of multiple reasons. Let us look at some studies done by American researchers on the subject, and let us see what they came up with:

Top Reasons for Divorce With Percentages

One particular national survey in the United States listed down the following percentages for reasons on which couples filed for legal separation:

The number one reason turned out to be the same reason why so many romantic relationships end up in tatters. "Lack of commitment", which earned a whooping 73%

The next biggest reason turned out to be "too much arguing" at 56%. Peace of mind matters, after all!

Unsurprisingly, infidelity was a close third at 55%, where the partner just could not be satisfied with just one individual, resulting in upsetting the entire relationship.

As we say in the "Divorce Statistics by Age" page, "marrying too young" figured in the top four, at 46%, where people rushed into a relationship without much foresight and thought behind their big decision.

"Unrealistic expectations" rounded out the top five at "45%", where the compatibility of the partners just did not meet with each other, resulting in one individual pulling away from the other when it turned out they could not deliver what the other expected from them, one way or another, and just saw an unsatisfied future ahead if the relationship continued.

"Lack of preparation for marriage", which is in the same vein as "Married too young", was sixth with 41%. In this case, it is possible that the couple in question, even though they were mature enough in age, were not mature enough in thought while taking the decision to get married. This clearly shows the direct relation between an unsuccessful marriage and divorce statistics.
Surprisingly, abuse (both of a physical and an emotional nature), made up only 29% of the grounds on which the separation appeals were filed. It is also possible that even if there had been abuse in a relationship, the victimized spouse did not want to admit so on a legal front, for reasons of shame, fear, or because they were extremely considerate of how such an allegation would affect the accused partner.

It should be noted that people file for legal break-off with multiple reasons, therefore, there is a huge scope for overlapping between the different reasons, leading to the total percentage score to be greater than 100%.

Top Reasons For Divorce When it Comes to Women

A study conducted by the Pennsylvania State University discovered the top divorce statistics by reasons, though percentages were unavailable:
Infidelity was the number one reason.
Incompatibility and the failure to meet expectations came in second.
Addiction was a very big reason, with drinking and drug usage placing third. The newly explored relation between alcohol and divorce statistics support the fact.
Many women found "growing apart" enough of a reason to end their marriages, showing that it mattered to a great degree how professional and personal needs of two partners had to match to some extent.
Problems related to personality incompatibility rounded out the top five reasons.
A break in communication played a big role when it came to womens' dissatisfaction with their marriages, though it should be noted that this reason is interchangeable with "growing apart" and "personality problems", to a certain extent.
Surprisingly, again, abuse of either an emotional or physical nature appeared as low as number seven, showing that abuse was not as commonplace as one assumes it to be or that people, especially women, are still unwilling to come out into the open with it for various reasons.
Reason Number Eight why women ended marriages was "loss of love", which again is a variation of "growing apart".
Some women ended marriages due to a failure of managing a family unit on a competent level, a failure either on their own parts or on the parts of their partners.
Rounding out the top ten were unemployment related issues, which is surprising considering the fact that during the recession, financial problems were believed to be the biggest reasons for marriages coming to an end.

So those were some of the divorce statistics by reason for rise in the cases of legal termination of marriage in America. Varied and plenty on individual levels, and many reasons overlapping when it comes to a root cause.