From the Archive: The Real Reason for Divorce

Why does one out of five marriages end up in the courts? In this 1950 article, divorcees themselves reveal the answers.

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—“Why Parents Call It Quits” by David G. Wittels, from the January 28, 1950, issue of The Saturday Evening Post

In 1950, a Post contributor read through 425 case files and checked them against court reports to identify the most frequent causes of divorce. He dismissed such familiar explanations as drinking, gambling, cruelty, sexual incompatibility, and desertion. He regarded these as symptoms and not causes. These, he wrote, were the actual, top causes.

  1. Emotional immaturity.
  2. Our modern industrial civilization, which has wiped out many of the material reasons for family life.
  3. The idea that romantic love is the main reason and sufficient basis for marriage.
  4. Parental disapproval and mother-in-law trouble.
  5. Differences in background.
  6. Finances and lack of housing.
  7. Jobs for women.
  8. Ambition.
  9. Infidelity.
Read the entire article “Why Parents Call it Quits” by David G. Wittels from the January 28, 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post

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Comments

  1. I read David’s 1950 article here, and he makes many valid points, many that would still apply today. This was written about 4 and a half years after the end of World War II, and a sizeable number of the marriages taking place immediately afterward, had crumbled.

    Many of these people (I suspect) did not know each other that well under the surface, and with the social influences of ‘all their friends getting married’ many took place for that reason alone. I don’t think this was true or as true after World War I. partly because the U.S. involvement was for a much shorter time, in 1917-’18.

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