Do number of children contribute to divorce?

Tucson Family Law Logo

It is often said that marriages in Arizona end because of underlying issues amongst the two people involved. However, one factor that is often not considered is whether the couple has children. It may not be the entire reason for going through a divorce, but it is nevertheless a part of it. One of the surprising details includes the number of daughters present within the family. In fact, research has concluded that more daughters actually leads to more divorces. Read on to explore why researchers have come to that conclusion.

What the experts are saying

Over ten years ago, economists Gordon Dahl and Enrico Moretti published their findings on divorce within the New York Times. In that article, Dahl and Moretti explained how families with daughters 10X more likely to file for divorce. In that same research, Dahl and Moretti found that unmarried parents with sons would go through a shotgun wedding to prevent the sons from growing up without a father figure. However, that is not the end of studies regarding children. Psychologist Anita E. Kelly found another surprising connection between daughters and divorces. She found that 75% of divorces were attributed to the daughters within the family. Given that information, it can safely be said that daughters simply offer mothers more support than sons and thus are more likely to take the step of filing for divorce.

Divorce before birth

It may sound strange, but data has shown that divorce can be predicted even before the gender of the child is known. This is especially true for wives who are going through an unhappy marriage as they are more likely to birth daughters rather than sons. Medical experts have known about the “female survival advantage” for many years and thus the reason for the confidence behind that theory.

If you are thinking about filing for divorce from your spouse, it is critical that you reach out to an attorney first. An attorney experienced in divorces may provide you with the legal guidance needed to come out on the other side unscathed.