Boring household chores, not infidelity, main culprit in broken marriages

More marriages break down over couples fighting about who does boring household chores or pays the bills than because of infidelity, new research has revealed.

According to an analysis of divorce cases by Gateley, a law firm in the United Kingdom, seven in 10 marriages end as couples are unable to reach an agreement on decisions related to their households, like how monthly finances are arranged or how household responsibilities are divided, The Telegraph reported.

Only one in five marriages ended due to a cheating spouse, the law firm said.

The company also said that couples who treated their marriage like a “business merger” — and talk about domestic issues — are much likelier to stay together in the long term.

The analysis also revealed that one in eight of the marriages ended as couples are unable to agree on where to settle down, the paper reported.

“Yes, it’s romantic to be walking down the aisle, but the realities of a ‘merger’ are a little more cut and dry, It is often the case that people simply don’t think about it, or feel comfortable discussing life choices, but what is apparent is that going into a marriage blind could be a recipe for disaster,” Elizabeth Hassall, a partner and head of the family division at Gateley, said.

The law firm surveyed 350 people and examined its case files to get the conclusions, the publication added.