Education and Divorce
Recently, a report was published in the August issue of the American Sociological Review about an extensive study regarding divorce trends among spouses with differing levels of education. The report prompted me to think back upon the evolution of my cases during my years as a Chicago divorce lawyer. The study, which used data of marriages formed in the nation from 1950-2004, found that marriages where the wife has more education than her husband are no longer more prone to divorce than couples with equal education levels or where the husband has more education.
Why is there a change in divorce trends?
Education levels among women
Starting in the early 90’s, women began to graduate college at higher rates than men. When the education rate of women began to surpass that of men, the gap was very small. However, women are increasingly obtaining degrees at higher rates than men. Some interesting statistics include:
- 62 percent of Associate’s Degrees are obtained by women
- 58 percent of Bachelor’s Degrees are obtained by women
- 53 percent of Doctorate Degrees are obtained by women
- Currently, for every 100 men that graduate with a college-level degree in a year, 140 women will as well
With the ever-increasing rate of highly educated women, it is common for marriages to occur between an educated women and a less educated man. In fact, in 60 percent of the marriages formed during 2005-2009, where there were different levels of education between the spouses, the wives had higher education levels.
Less traditional views of marriage
In the past, people held very traditional views regarding marriage. It was common to believe that the male in a relationship should be the educated breadwinner, while the wife was expected to stay home to take care of the children and household. Previously, a man would be more likely to be embarrassed by a more educated or higher-achieving spouse. However, as shown by the statistics above, with women’s high education rates, it is just as acceptable for women to be in powerful professional positions.
Along with the less restrictive gender roles in the workplace, gender roles in marriage have changed. Nowadays, people have much more flexible beliefs regarding marriage. It is now common for households to consist of two working parents where the parents share household responsibilities. This means that a wife having more education than her husband would no longer be as likely to cause a serious rift in the marriage. In 1980, only 41 percent of college-aged males said it would not bother them to have a wife with more education than them. However, this rate was up to 60 percent just ten years later. This can help account for the results of the study. With the ever-changing societal norms, it is inevitable that certain trends, such as those about divorce, will change as well.
If you have any questions about divorce, please contact me.
