Top Reasons Why Marriages End in Divorce


8 Reasons Marriages Fail

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-- From the Editors at Netscape

No matter how much you love each other, your marriage could be doomed to failure by such mundane factors as your age, previous relationships, parents or even the nasty habit of smoking, reports the Australian Associated Press of a study titled "What's Love Got to Do With It?"

Led by Rebecca Kippen and Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University and Peng Yu from Australia's Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the team tracked nearly 2,500 married and cohabiting couples from 2001 to 2007 and identified which factors are most likely to sever relationships.

The top eight reasons why your marriage might fail:

1. When a man is nine or more years older than his wife, they are twice as likely to get divorced, compared with couples who are closer in age.

2. Men who marry before age 25 are twice as likely to get divorced than men who marry at an older age.

3. Twenty percent of couples who have children before they marry -- either from the same relationship or a previous relationship -- divorce or separate, compared to just nine percent of couples who wait to have children until after they are married. The number of children a couple have after they are married does not affect the rate of divorce.

4. Couples are far more likely to divorce if the woman wants to have children much more than does her partner.

5. Sixteen percent of couples whose parents ever separated or divorced, experience marital separation themselves, compared with 10 percent of those whose parents did not separate or divorce.

6. When one of the partners is in his or her second or third marriage, the couple is 90 percent more likely to separate or divorce than couples who are both in their first marriage.

7. Sixteen percent of couples who identified themselves as poor or where the husband was unemployed, ended up separating or divorcing, compared with only nine percent of couples who reported healthy finances. The wife's employment status did not affect the stability of the marriage.

8. When one -- but not the other -- partner smokes, the marriage is far more likely to end in failure than for couples where both or neither partner smokes.

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      anabella379 06:15:11 PM Nov 18 2009

      kctiger1962, I agree, communication is essential. These are some great advices for better communication in relationships: http://going-well.com/2009/10/08/ten-steps-to-better-communication-save-your-marriage/

      kctiger1962 12:22:51 AM Nov 03 2009

      I think communication plays a big part in keeping a relationship together. I think couples should make time for each other, get a babysitter and plan a date night a few nights a month so you can reconnect and keep things fresh. I think after a couple has been with each other for many years, like 20 plus years, they tend to get to comfortable, to predictable, they can finish each others sentences, and sometimes start to feel more like brother and sister than a couple. One or both might find someone outside the marriage that seems more interesting, more willing to listen to them and more sexually attractive. And once that door is open then you have to make a choice, to either confess to your partner that your having these kinds of feelings or you tell them you want a divorce. If you choice to cheat on your partner and not tell them, this is a bad Idea. Your friends and family will not be understanding and probably side with your spouse. Morally you will know it's wrong, And w

      Thrilicious0516 12:10:25 AM Sep 19 2009

      its not the reasons that make you fail its how to handle them.

      Denroberts50 05:52:35 PM Sep 16 2009

      Huh , I am in my third marriage , I was under 25 my first marriage , half nuts my second , and my third it has been pretty good till the "CHANGE OF LIFE DEVIL ' showed up several years ago . Now , I come home to a different mood every night . Not much fun at all .

      Laurieartlvr 03:33:11 PM Sep 14 2009

      Uh-oh! My husband and I are doomed! We've been married for 20 years. I guess we can call it quits now since we have 5 of the 8 reasons to fail. Thanks AOL.

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