Men Leave: Separation And Divorce Far More Common When The Wife Is The Patient

When serious illness strikes, women are shockingly more likely to be abandoned by their partners than men are. In a striking study involving patients with cancer or multiple sclerosis, researchers found that women faced a divorce or separation rate of 20.8%, compared to just 2.9% when men were sick. The disparity suggests that men are far less likely to stick around when caregiving is required. Factors such as age, duration of marriage, and even the type of illness played a role, but the woman's gender was the most powerful predictor of abandonment.