New Yorkers like to think that they are very progressive in both thought and action, which is probably why it may come as a surprise to them that a recent study found that a woman’s promotion at her job may increase the chances of her getting a divorce.
Swedish researchers, looking at 30 years of detailed data, found that if a woman was earning less than her husband or not working at all at the time she got married, she was more likely to get divorced if her career suddenly took off. In fact, they compared the effect of women who won and lost elections in the public sector to men who won or lost and found that women who won were 7 percent less likely to remain married to their spouse, and men saw no effect in their divorce prospects.
In the private sector, women who were promoted to CEOs while they were married were twice as likely to have gotten a divorce within three years of their promotion compared to their male counterparts. Researchers hypothesized that this could be because the woman’s career was not initially given importance in the marriage and her promotion suddenly and unexpected prioritized her career over her husband’s career. Although the study is conducted in another country, the results can easily be transported to our society that still values traditional gender roles and is slow to reverse them.
When married, one expects their spouse to support them and their choices and when either spouse is not getting what they want and need, they may end up deciding to end their marriage. Regardless of the reason, a divorce can become less complicated with the help of an experienced professional.