25% of Couples Stay Together Only for the Kids’ Sake

British sociologists have found that one in four married couples stays together for the sake of the children. Adults plan to divorce as soon as the children grow up.

In the UK, the social study showed that 25% of couples stayed together only because of small children. The couples were ready to divorce immediately, as soon as the children grew up, and divorced parents would no longer be a psychological shock for them. The study revealed that the main reasons for dissatisfaction with family life included regular betrayal, loss of interest in sex, as well as the fact that the couples become friends rather than intimate partners over the years.

In total, the study involved more than 2,000 married parents, most of whom believed that the parents’ divorce would be a severe psychological blow to their children. The spouses stayed together because of caring about the psychological well-being of their children as well as many other reasons. They included the uncertainty in their own material resources that would be necessary to survive a divorce; the very word “divorce” that is associated with failures in life; and the fear that they would never meet a worthy partner after the divorce.

However, psychologists believe that such unhappy marriages bring the children more harm than good. In fact, children are very sensitive to the welfare of their parents, they see well, if their moms and dads are unhappy. Children develop their own attitude to family life on the basis of the experience obtained from the parents. So in adult life such children can expect a lot of problems related to marriage.