The Divorce Survey: Why women divorce, how divorce affects them, and more
Why do women get divorced? And how does divorce affect them and their families?
The results are in! I spent about a month surveying readers (and anyone else who wanted to participate) about their experiences leaving marriages or long-term relationships. The survey included 80 very detailed questions, including multiple free-answer sections. Consequently, I’m dividing the results into two newsletters for easier reading and a less overwhelming data dump.
In this newsletter, I’ll outline women’s experiences with:
dating, courtship, and the decision to get married
what the marriage was like
why they decided to divorce, and how their partners reacted
what happened when the marriage was crumbling, including experiences with couples therapy
how their children initially reacted to news of the divorce
how women feel about their divorces now, with the benefit of hindsight
Next week, I’ll be releasing data on women’s interactions with the family court system, including:
how custody and child support were decided
final child custody and support awards
financial status after divorce
using the court for protection against abusers
post-separation abuse
and more!
Data collection for this survey was a massive undertaking, involving significant work and research. Compiling the data involved even more research. For this reason, the data is only available to paid subscribers. You get thousands of dollars worth of work for just $8—plus access to all my other paid articles, the numerous future surveys I’ll be releasing, and access to the Liberating Motherhood support group.
I will be conducting and releasing data on at least three new surveys before the end of the year. I’m releasing the first of that group today. The new survey is relatively short, and asks about women’s experiences of criminal victimization by men—actions such as domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, theft, any criminal behavior. If you have experienced such behavior, please take the survey, and as always, remember to read the instructions first!