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America’s poor divorce at a high rate, thanks to men

On Behalf of | May 15, 2015 | Divorce |

Studies have shown that the working poor in America tend to get divorced at a higher rate than those in the middle and upper classes. This has stayed true even as more and more people in these higher classes are staying together.

For example, back in the 1980s, slightly over 20 percent of people who were college educated split up before they had been married for seven years. In 2015, the number is about half that, right around 11 percent. However, those who make under double the poverty line — around $32,000 for a couple — are divorcing about 17 percent of the time. It was also that way in the 1980s, showing that this rate is stagnant.

Some researchers have found that men are perhaps more to blame for this than women, as women start about two thirds of the divorces. The reason, according to these researchers, is that lower-class families more often think that men should be the providers, and women ask for divorces when the men can’t do it.

One woman said that her husband kept quitting his jobs, while she kept hers. She said that she didn’t even want him to provide for her on his own, but that she just wanted him to be as reliable as she was. When he couldn’t do it, she decided to get divorced since she felt that she could only count on herself.

When getting divorced at any income level in North Dakota, it’s very important to know what legal steps to take to get a fair outcome. This is especially true when funds are tight.

Source: The Washington Post, “Men are to blame for the high divorce rate among America’s poor,” Darlena Cunha, May. 04, 2015

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