Top reasons couples divorce

Cheating may no longer be one of the main reasons for divorce in the UK, but in South Africa infidelity is still among the top three causes of marital break-ups.

A UK-based company, Co-operative Legal Services, has found that couples today are half as likely to list cheating as the reason for divorce as they were 40 years ago.

Analysing more than five million divorce cases in Britain since the 1970s, the researchers found that modern couples are more likely to cite unreasonable behaviour as the cause of a split-up.

It found that 47% of recently divorced people cited unreasonable behaviour - including unsociable spouses, cross-dressing husbands who wanted sex changes and stealing from a joint bank account - compared to 27% in the 1970s.

However, divorce attorney and author of Everyone's Guide to Divorce and Separation Bertus Preller found in a study that looked at 1000 cases that the top three reasons for divorce in South Africa are lack of communication, abuse and infidelity.

"Infidelity or adultery, more commonly known as cheating, is near the top of the list of reasons for divorcing in South Africa. Infidelity undermines the root of the relationship - trust," Preller said.

He said it was difficult to determine why leading reasons for divorce differed among countries.

In South Africa, lack of communication accounts for 70% of all marital breakdowns .

"Good communication does not mean always agreeing with each other. Couples . are often unable to find a middle ground and are unwilling to compromise."

He said abuse, another top reason for divorce, occurred across society and ranged from domestic violence to verbal, emotional, psychological and financial abuse.

Social networking is also causing problems. " Spouses who spend countless hours on social networks to the exclusion of family create a disconnect that often cannot be repaired, and divorce follows."