Issues of Middle-Age that May Lead Women to Divorce

By Sheryl Rentz on January 14, 2013

As women reach age 50-something, they may start to wonder if this is all there is to life. Whether or not this is a mid-life crisis, middle age is a time of questioning whether women are where they want to be. As was reported in The Huffington Post, many married middle-aged women said they no longer wanted to be married to their husbands. They were finished with marriage. They were not happy. They felt doomed to live the rest of their lives the way they had up to the present.

Midlife Changes

Midlife is an anxiety-filled time for women. Family law attorneys are familiar with just how difficult making the decision of whether or not to divorce can be.

Middle-age Issues that may lead certain women to think about divorce include the following:

• Age 48 is the pivotal year for women’s unhappiness.
• At midlife, women are coping with menopause.
• Children have left home for college and/or careers, leaving behind an empty nest.
• Women’s roles as nurturers lessen.
• Women begin to see themselves losing their youth and beauty.

Women may be married to good, caring men but they simply do not want to be married anymore; they have fallen out of love. They may have been once inspired by the Eat, Pray, Love syndrome, but after the intense work of raising a family and managing a home, and often after balancing family caretaking with professional careers, women want to stop nurturing others and begin to nurture themselves.

Two-thirds of all divorce proceedings are started by women, many of whom do very well after their divorces. According to one AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) study, most divorced middle-aged women do find someone new.

Pennsylvania family law attorney Sheryl R. Rentz knows how trying the decision to divorce can be, no matter at what age that decision is made. If you are a resident of Pennsylvania considering divorce, call Ms. Rentz at (610) 645-0100 to talk about how best to proceed.