I’ll Stand by You Through Sickness and in Health—Except…

For anyone who uttered the marriage vow promising to stick together through sickness and health, it may come as a surprise to you to learn that when it comes to serious illnesses, marriages are a whopping seven times more likely to disintegrate when women become sick than when their husbands do. Why are men more prone to jumping ship?

What the Research Says

A 2025 study by the Journal of Marriage and Family reports  that women in heterosexual marriages are far less likely to enjoy marital support in times of serious illness than when the tables are turned and men in those marriages fall ill. The study includes more than 25,000 couples aged 50 and older. For couples between the ages of 50 and 64, marriages were more likely to end if the wife had failing health. However, when the husband faced serious health issues, there was no greater likelihood of divorce than for healthy couples.  Similarly, when the woman dealt with serious limitations as they attempted to complete daily tasks and activities, the chances for divorce went up. On the other hand, when men faced similar restrictions, there was no greater divorce outcome.

When it comes to mental health, however, the results were more balanced. Depression in either spouse led to higher occurrences of divorce than for couples where neither spouse suffered from depression. An exception arose when older couples faced depression issues.  When partners were over 64 years old, the chances of divorce rose only when the woman struggled with depression.

In yet another study focused just on brain tumors, the chances of divorce jumped by 21 percent when women were diagnosed with a brain tumor. However, when men were the ones diagnosed with a brain tumor, that number dropped to just 3 percent.

There is additional research suggesting that illness is a stark stressor for any marriage, and causes higher levels of dissatisfaction in the marriage. The reasons can be many:

• It creates a financial burden;
• It forces shifts in duties and expectations;
• It takes one or both spouses out of the workforce;
• It impacts intimacy;
• It creates feelings of helplessness.

Why Men are More Likely to Leave a Sick Partner

 There is certainly no definitive conclusion that explains the higher divorce rate when wives fall ill, by researchers’ guesswork took them to several possibilities:

• Because women are often more dependent on their husbands financially, it is less likely they would leave a marriage in the event their husbands become ill.
• Since women are more likely in a caregiver role in the marriage, it puts more stress on a relationship when they become ill.
• Men are much more likely to remarry, and to remarry significantly younger women—following the divorce of a sickly spouse.

Divorce Due to Illness 

If you are facing divorce due to one partner’s significant illness, things can be a bit trickier due to financial considerations, emotions associated with the split, and support issues. At WiseLieberman, our dedicated Boca Raton divorce attorneys are committed to working out the best possible settlement for you.  To discuss, visit our Boca Raton office today.

Source:

psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/202503/why-more-marriages-end-when-wives-get-sick-than-when-husbands-do