A Common Internet Marriage Statistic Was a Programming Error

How likely is a husband to divorce a sick wife?

“I do, in sickness or health — unless you get something gross like cancer, and then I’m gone like the wind, baby.” (Not my actual wedding vows.) Photo by Wedding Dreamz on Unsplash

Table of Contents

· How these papers looked at disease-related spousal abandonment
· A programming error treats exits as divorces
· The end of a marriage can come from either side
∘ Have you heard any strange statistics or claims about factors that impact divorce?

A marriage is supposed to be for life; it’s right there in the wedding vows. As long as you’re not on a sitcom or after a green card, you’re probably committing for the long haul.

But what if the unthinkable happens? No, not death — but sickness. The vows do say “in sickness and in health,” but sticking around to care for a sick partner is a lot less fun than hanging out with your healthy companion. Most of us would confidently state that we’d stay no matter how sick our partner may become, but the statistics show that this isn’t always the case.

One popular number thrown around on the internet, cited commonly in discussions of marriage, is that “men are six times more likely to leave a sick female partner, versus the likelihood of the wife leaving a sick husband” (specifically for cancer or multiple sclerosis).