What Is the Number One Reason for Divorce? What the Research Actually Shows
Ask the internet and the answer is 'money.' Ask divorced couples in the peer-reviewed literature and the answer is different: lack of commitment tops the list, infidelity is the most common final straw, and financial problems rank fifth. Here is what the studies actually measured.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
The Most-Cited Study: Lack of Commitment, 75%
Scott, Rhoades, Stanley and colleagues (2013, Couple and Family Psychology) interviewed divorced participants about what caused their divorce, allowing multiple answers. The 'major contributor' ranking: lack of commitment 75.0% · infidelity 59.6% · too much conflict and arguing 57.7% · marrying too young 45.1% · financial problems 36.7%, followed by substance abuse and domestic violence.
The same study asked for the single final straw: there infidelity led at 24%, ahead of domestic violence (21.2%) and substance abuse (12.1%). Commitment erodes marriages; affairs end them.
Case Details
Methodology honesty: the 2013 study interviewed 52 divorced individuals from a premarital-education cohort, and participants selected about four contributors each - which is why the percentages sum far past 100% and why no single answer is 'the' cause for three-quarters of divorces. The older, larger open-ended study (Amato & Previti 2003, 208 respondents from national panel data) found infidelity the most common single stated cause, followed by incompatibility and drinking or drug use.
So Is Money the #1 Cause? No - It Ranks Fifth
How Common Is Divorce Really?
The 'half of all marriages end in divorce' line is dated. The refined divorce rate - divorces per 1,000 married women, the demographers' preferred measure - peaked at 22.6 in 1980 and had fallen to 14.6 by 2022 (Bowling Green NCFMR, from 4.1 in 1900). Divorce has been declining for four decades, driven mostly by later, more selective marriage in younger cohorts.
Why the Reasons Matter Legally (Mostly They Don't)
What the Research Ranked (2013 Study)
- 1
1. Lack of Commitment - 75.0%
The most-named major contributor - often described by participants as gradual disengagement.
- 2
2. Infidelity - 59.6%
Second as a contributor, but the leading single final straw (24%).
- 3
3. Too Much Conflict - 57.7%
Chronic arguing without repair - the factor marriage counseling most directly targets.
- 4
4. Married Too Young - 45.1%
Consistent with the demographic finding that later marriage predicts lower divorce risk.
- 5
5. Financial Problems - 36.7%
Real, but fifth - not first, despite the popular claim.
Common Misreadings
Three ways these statistics get mangled:
'75% of divorces are caused by lack of commitment'
Wrong reading - participants picked multiple contributors (about four each), so the percentages overlap heavily and describe contributors, not exclusive causes.
'Money is the #1 reason'
Financial problems ranked fifth in the most-cited study and were not the top open-ended answer in the older panel study. The claim survives because it sells budgeting products.
'Half of marriages end in divorce'
The refined divorce rate has fallen about a third from its 1980 peak (22.6 to 14.6 per 1,000 married women by 2022). Current cohorts divorce less than the 50% line suggests.
Reasons for Divorce - FAQ
What is the number one reason for divorce?
In the most-cited peer-reviewed study (Scott et al. 2013), lack of commitment was named by 75% of divorced participants as a major contributor - the highest of any reason, ahead of infidelity (59.6%) and conflict (57.7%).
Is infidelity the most common cause?
It depends on how you ask. As one of several contributors it ranked second (59.6%); as the single 'final straw' it ranked first (24%), and the older open-ended panel study (2003) also found it the most common single stated cause.
Is money really the top reason marriages fail?
Not in the research: financial problems ranked fifth (36.7%) as a contributor in the 2013 study, behind commitment, infidelity, conflict, and marrying too young.
Do half of all marriages end in divorce?
That figure is outdated. The refined divorce rate fell from its 1980 peak of 22.6 to 14.6 per 1,000 married women in 2022 (Bowling Green NCFMR) - divorce has declined for four decades.
What share of divorces involve domestic violence or substance abuse?
As the single final straw: domestic violence 21.2% and substance abuse 12.1%, versus infidelity at 24%, in the 2013 study's breakdown.
Do I need to prove a reason to get divorced?
No - every state allows no-fault divorce. Conduct can still matter at the margins: dissipation of assets, custody where violence or substance abuse is involved.
How solid is this research?
The 2013 study is peer-reviewed but small (52 participants from a premarital-education cohort, multi-select answers); the 2003 study is larger (208, open-ended). We report both and their limits rather than a single headline number.
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