A new study examining divorce among older couples has found that when wives experience poor health, marriages are significantly more likely to break down – whereas husbands’ health struggles have little impact on the likelihood of divorce, as reported by The Times.
The study tracked more than 25,000 heterosexual couples aged 50 and older across 27 European countries over an 18-year period. It found that among couples aged 50 to 64, marriages were 60% more likely to end if the wife was in poor health while the husband remained healthy. However, if the husband had health problems, the couple was no more likely to separate than if both were in good health.
Giammarco Alderotti, a researcher at the University of Florence and co-author of the study, said the findings align with traditional gender roles, where men struggle more to take on a caregiving role. “The fact that women are more likely to be financially dependent on husbands may definitely also be part of the story,” he added.
The study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, suggested that “traditional gender-role attitudes” – where husbands are seen as breadwinners and wives as homemakers – reinforce unequal power dynamics within marriages.
The findings applied not only to chronic illnesses but also to physical disabilities. If a wife struggled with daily tasks, her risk of divorce increased. But if a husband experienced the same challenges, the risk remained unchanged. The same pattern emerged with mental health – women with depression were more likely to experience divorce, while husbands with depression did not see the same increase in risk.
Among couples aged 65 and older, the study found a slight shift in trends. Here, depression became a stronger predictor of divorce than physical disability. For couples aged 50-65, the opposite was true, with physical limitations playing a larger role in break-ups.
Despite an overall decline in UK divorce rates to their lowest level since 1971, older couples have bucked the trend. Between 2005 and 2015, while divorces across all age groups fell by 28%, divorce rates among over-65s rose by 46% – and this pattern continues.
However, the study offered some reassurance: divorce in older age remains relatively rare. Even in cases where the wife’s health was poor, the likelihood of divorce was still low in absolute terms – 0.8% compared to 0.5% for couples where both partners were healthy.
