Two-thirds of divorces after age 40 are initiated by wives, debunking the myth of an older man divorcing his wife for a younger woman, a new survey shows. « That obviously happens, but mostly it’s women who are asking for the divorce, » said Steve Slon, editor of AARP the Magazine, last Tuesday. The magazine published the results Thursday in its July-August issue.
« The Divorce Experience: A Study of Divorce at Midlife and Beyond » surveyed 1,147 people ages 40 to 79 who had divorced in their 40s, 50s or 60s. The questionnaire survey, completed in December, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The survey found that women over age 40 seemed more aware of problems in their marriages, while men were more likely to be caught off-guard by their divorces. Twenty-six percent of men said they « never saw it coming, » compared with 14 percent of women.