Lifestyle
Analysis of more than 5 million divorce cases has shown that claims of unreasonable behaviour have rocketed, the study revealed.
Updated : Nov 21, 2013, 01:44 PM IST
A new study suggests that adultery falls behind bad behaviour as leading grounds for divorce these days.
Warring couples are only half as likely to cite adultery as the cause of a marriage breakdown than they were 40 years ago, the Guardian reported.
Analysis of more than 5 million divorce cases has shown that claims of unreasonable behaviour have rocketed, the study revealed.
Co-operative Legal Services compared the grounds for divorce in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s as well as the present day.
It found that while in the 70s, 29 % of marriages ended because of adultery, the latest figures show only 15 % of divorces were down to infidelity.
In the 70s unreasonable behaviour was cited in 28 % of cases but it now accounts for almost half of all divorces (47 %).
Examples of unreasonable behaviour given to lawyers for divorce include an unsociable husband making his wife feel guilty when she wanted to go out with her friends; a cross-dressing husband who decided to have a sex change; and a spouse withdrawing all the family savings — 40,000 pounds — and burning it in the bedroom.