Australian survey of divorce rates differing by education, age, smoking, children, but not alcohol
This story, which came via the Smart Marriages listserv, actually surveys a whole bunch of variables correlating with divorce rates, despite the headline.
ACADEMIC DIVIDE LINKED TO DIVORCE
Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent | November 05, 2008
The Australian
WOMEN with tertiary educations who choose as a partner men who have not
finished high school are 10 times more likely to separate or get divorced
than women whose education is less than or equal to their partner's.
The finding is contained in a new study by researchers at the Australian
National University commissioned by the federal Government, which looks at
the factors behind the break-up of Australian families with children.
The project used Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey
data to investigate the factors that preceded the end of relationships.
The research, conducted by ANU's Centre for Mental Health Research and the
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, considered whether
mental health problems, hazardous levels of alcohol consumption and smoking
were associated with divorce or separation. It found that education was a
key factor in relationship stability.
"Compared to couples in which partners had similar levels of educational
qualifications, those couples in which women reported tertiary
qualifications and men reported not completing high school had a tenfold
greater risk of divorce/separation," it says.
"This may reflect two factors. Firstly, women's educational attainment may
be a proxy for financial independence and, thus, the opportunity for women
to support themselves outside of the marriage. This removes a potential
barrier to divorce or separation.
"Secondly, these couples may experience greater conflict or dissatisfaction
within the relationship, perhaps associated with the fact that they are not
fulfilling the traditional gendered roles within marriage."
The analysis found couples with the opposite pattern of educational
attainment -- where men had the tertiary qualifications and women did not
complete high school -- did not demonstrate an increased risk of subsequent
marital instability and, if anything, showed greater than average stability.
The lowest rate of separation was found among couples where both partners
reported tertiary qualifications.
The study also found there was no association between alcohol consumption
and relationship instability.
But couples in which women were smokers -- regardless of whether the male
partner smoked -- were at increased risk of divorce or separation.
"We consider that this reflects the effectiveness of women's smoking as a
marker of social and economic disadvantage and adversity," the report says.
The study found that marital stability was associated with the birth of a
child within marriage and older age at marriage, and that religion was
important in the couple's lives.
