Researchers have known for decades that women are more likely to petition for divorce, but a new study presented to the American Sociological Association this year may change the current beliefs on why this is true. The study looked at 2,262 people over the age of 18 who were in heterosexual relationships and had the participants answer questions about those relationships.
According to the finding released, women were the filing party in a divorce 69 percent of the time. This was not surprising given the data gathered in the part, but this time the study looked at couples in both marital and nonmarital relationships. Interestingly, women and men initiated the breakup of a nonmarital relationship fairly equally. This indicated that the higher percentage of divorces started by women was not due to women being more sensitive to relationship issues as previously thought.
Instead, the study’s author believes that the data indicates that women are overall less satisfied with their marriages than men. This may possibly be due to the fact that heterosexual marriages still retain more of the traditional gender roles than nonmarital relationships, but more research is needed.
Even though women are more likely to be the petitioner in a divorce, the proceedings are the same no matter who files. What does impact the divorce case greatly, however, is the specific situations surrounding the couple’s relationship. A divorce where both parties are in agreement about custody, visitation and how to divide their assets is likely to go much smoother and quicker than one where the parties are fighting each other over each little issue. Either way, it’s important to have someone on your side who understands the Colorado laws and how to handle any complications that may come up in the course of the next few months.
Source: Time, “Why Women Are More Likely to Ask for a Divorce,” Aug. 22, 2015