Top Reasons for Divorce in America

In 2009, the divorce rate for the United States - at 3.5 per 1000 population, was almost half the marriage rate for the nation - at 6.8 per 1000 population - which implied that almost half of the married couples in the U.S. eventually ended up getting divorced. Divorce statistics also reveal that the probability of a couple getting divorced within 10 years of marriage was a whopping 33 percent, and within 5 years was around 20 percent. So why do marriages fail? Reasons exist in plenty - right from cheating spouse to rearing of children.

Changing Trend of Divorce in the American Society

The introduction of no-fault divorce concept - on the grounds of 'irreconcilable differences' came as a catalyst for divorce rate in the United States of America in 1970s. The state of California was the first to implement the same in 1969, and soon after - by 1985 to be precise, all the 50 American states had no-fault divorce as a component of their judicial system. That explains the sudden surge in divorce percentage in America - which has increased by two and a half times over the last 20 years. Around two decades ago, most of the divorce cases were attributed to the Biblical reasons for divorce - i.e. abandonment and adultery. More recently, however, things have undergone a drastic change and the difficult to define concept of 'irreconcilable differences' seems to have taken the top spot.

Top 10 Reasons for Divorce in the USA

As we said earlier, the reasons for divorce exist in plenty - most of which start from minor differences and eventually snowball into a communication breakdown leading to the process of separation. If relationship experts are to be believed, most of these reasons are influenced by factors such as age, religion, education, financial condition and norms of the society being the most important among them all. Given below are the top 10 reasons why marriages fail in the United States of America as of today.

1. Communication Breakdown: Communication is the key when it comes to relationships - and marriage is no exception. When communication problems start surfacing, it is a hint that your relationship is going downhill. While talking does resolve issues, ego clashes tend to keep this option at bay thus making communication breakdown the top reason for divorce. Statistics on divorce suggest that 67.5 percent of divorce cases have lack of communication in marriage as the driving factor.
2. Infidelity: Again one of the most serious issues when it comes to disruption of marriage life, infidelity has a significant role to play in a large number of divorce cases in the US. While this reason has been there since quite a long time, the fact that it has combined with various other reasons today has made it all the more severe.
3. Financial Problems: Economic strain is something that all married couples are subjected to at some or the other point in life. While some couples are understanding enough to make it through, others give in to such marital problems. What starts as a minor argument initially goes a long way - only to end with separation.
4. Emotional Abuse: Verbal insults, humiliation, taunts as well as intimidation - all of which combine to form severe emotional abuse, have a significant share in the total number of divorce cases in the United States.
5. Physical Abuse: In some cases, it doesn't just stop at emotional abuse - but take a much violent way in form of physical abuse. Such abusive relationships have a significant share when it comes to reasons for divorce in America today.
6. Physical Incompatibility: One of the most common - but least spoken about reason for divorce in the entire world is physical incompatibility between the couple. This can be attributed to many things - right from loss of interest in partner to hectic lifestyle. Irrespective of what the reason is, the end result is nothing but disaster in form of divorce.
7. Loss of Interest: Many people wrongly interpret loss of interest to physical intimacy. The fact, however, is that it is more often related to the emotional aspect as compared to physical aspect of a relationship.
8. Shift in Priorities: With time priorities change, and suddenly your professional life becomes more important - while marriage takes a back seat. In such a scenario, the lack of understanding between partners sounds the death knell for their marriage.
9. Failed Expectations: Almost everybody gets into a relationship with some expectations - when these expectations are fulfilled it does make people happy, but when they are not then? This is yet another common reason for divorce in the US.
10. Addiction: Being addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, drugs etc. is not just harmful for you, but for your marriage as well, especially in the United States wherein it is one of the top ten reasons for seeking divorce.

Numerous physical and psychological factors come into play in what is referred to as an 'unhappy marriage' or 'bad marriage'. Irrespective of why people opt for divorce, it's obvious that the implications of the same are felt on various attributes of their life. Other than the emotional turmoil associated with divorce, the couple is also subjected to financial issues of the same. At the end of the day, even though divorce is not the best option to end a marriage - there are times when it is the only option that you have.