A study from Iowa State University found that marriages where the wife had been diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, heart disease, lung disease, or stroke had a 6% higher risk of ending in divorce compared to healthy marriages. The reasons for this included the added financial strain and responsibility of the healthy spouse becoming the sole caregiver and household manager. Additionally, the dependency of an ill wife needing to be fed encouraged divorce more than an ill husband. The study suggests poor quality of care from husbands who felt less comfortable as caregivers, as well as the stress of dealing with a life-threatening illness, drove women to seek divorce more than men.

1. Law Office of Dorene Kuffer
500 4th Street NW Suite 250, Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 924-1000
Study Shows Divorce Risk
Rises for Wives
Diagnosed with a Serious
Illness

2. While spouses vow to stay together each other through “sickness and in
health” a study from the Iowa State University (ISU) claims that this may
not always be the case. Sickness, they assert, can change the dynamics
within a marriage enough to lead to a split.
The study, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, shows that
marriages where the wife had cancer, heart disease, lung disease, or stroke
had a 6% higher probability of divorce than marriages where wives stayed
healthy. Of the 2,701 marriages considered in the study, 32% ended up in a
split, while 24% ended in widowhood over a 20 year period.
Adding Financial Strain and the Stress of Household Management to
a Marriage
There are some reasons why illness could add stress to a marriage. In
relationships where the wife falls ill, the healthy spouse ends up as the
primary caregiver as well as taking sole responsibility for household
management. Additionally, the fact that one spouse is too sick to work could
lead to financial strain — one of the major predictors of divorce.

3. Amelia Karakker, the lead author of the ISU study, notes the difference
between wives feeling too sick to work and needing someone to feed them,
as the latter is a form of dependency that could encourage a divorce.
Poor Quality of Care as a Reason for Divorce
Interestingly, a husband developing serious health problems did not increase
the risk of divorce. While the study does not address why divorce is more
likely when wives, not husbands, become ill, Karakker believes in the
possibility of women ending their marriage because of the poor quality of
care they receive from their partner. One reason behind the poor quality of
caregiver services is that husbands are less familiar with caregiving work
than their counterparts and therefore feel uncomfortable fulfilling that role.
To top that off, wives also have to deal with their life or death experience,
which drives women to seek a split even more.

4. Sources:
 http://www.kufferlaw.com/
 http://www.futurity.org/divorce-wives-illness-868802/
 http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2015/03/04/illnessdivorce
 http://www.livescience.com/45270-divorce-risk-serious-
illness.html
 http://time.com/83486/divorce-is-more-likely-if-the-wife-not-the-
husband-gets-sick/
The ISU study sheds light on the potential vulnerabilities of sick members of
society. Apart from poor health and the possible risk of depression, sick
spouses also face a higher risk for divorce. To prevent marriages from falling
apart, spouses may receive additional care and services early on in their
relationship and participate in hospital oncology programs.