Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women 127 from around 60%for most of the 19th century (Chused,1994;Fried- man and Percival,1976)to,immediately after the introduction of no- fault divorce (Gunter and Johnson,1978),more than 70%in some states (Gunter and Johnson,1978,p.572 and Table 1;Friedman and Percival, 1976,pp.71,75,81).Today,with some variation among states,it re- mains slightly above two-thirds.The standard explanations for this behav- ior include the following:women file because of tradition (Brinig,1993; Brinig and Buckley,1998b);women file to assure their innocence in the underlying proceeding;-women file to secure rights to custody,support, and attorney's fees(Friedman and Percival,1976,p.78;Brinig and Buck- ley,1998b;Vernier and Hurlbut,1939,p.198);or women file simply because it is more convenient for them to do so.While these explana- tions have some merit,even in combination they cannot explain the vari- ation in filing rates across states (Table 1),the persistence of the "gender gap"in filing through time,nor the systematic filing behavior we explore later on. Economic explanations of divorce,beginning with Gary Becker,stress the rational weighing of remaining married over becoming single.When remaining married is no longer attractive,a spouse files for divorce,and on the surface it is unclear why the bias should be toward women filing.3 What makes the high filing rate for women most puzzling,however,is that it is generally assumed that overall husbands should be the ones most wanting out of marriage-particularly since the introduction of no-fault divorce.This understanding results from the focus on post-divorce finan- cial status.Even by the most conservative accounts,the average divorced woman's standard of living declines from the one she enjoyed during marriage,and it declines relatively more than does the average husband's. Men often have an increase in their material well-being after divorce (Duncan and Hoffman,1985;Finnie,1993;Hill and O'Neill,1994; 1.Nadine Taub has noted that many of these petitions may be attributable to the chivalrous custom of allowing the wife to file first(Stark,1991,p.1514.note 149). 2.Reid v.Reid (1989)and McLaughlin v.McLaughlin (1986)discuss the standard requiring justification before the wife's desertion barred her from obtaining alimony under a now-amended law (Friedman and Percival,1976,p.79). 3.Although we recognize that filing for divorce is not the same as instigating a divorce,for many of the hypotheses we consider,this assumption will be made for reasons we will discuss shortly.We will include some evidence that the two are related, if not identical,when we discuss the Oregon data on long-term separations.Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women 127 from around 60% for most of the 19th century (Chused, 1994; Fried￾man and Percival, 1976) to, immediately after the introduction of no￾fault divorce (Gunter and Johnson, 1978), more than 70% in some states (Gunter and Johnson, 1978, p. 572 and Table 1; Friedman and Percival, 1976, pp. 71, 75, 81). Today, with some variation among states, it re￾mains slightly above two-thirds. The standard explanations for this behav￾ior include the following: women file because of tradition (Brinig, 1993; Brinig and Buckley, 1998b);1 women file to assure their innocence in the underlying proceeding;2 women file to secure rights to custody, support, and attorney’s fees (Friedman and Percival, 1976, p. 78; Brinig and Buck￾ley, 1998b; Vernier and Hurlbut, 1939, p. 198); or women file simply because it is more convenient for them to do so. While these explana￾tions have some merit, even in combination they cannot explain the vari￾ation in filing rates across states (Table 1), the persistence of the “gender gap” in filing through time, nor the systematic filing behavior we explore later on. Economic explanations of divorce, beginning with Gary Becker, stress the rational weighing of remaining married over becoming single. When remaining married is no longer attractive, a spouse files for divorce, and on the surface it is unclear why the bias should be toward women filing.3 What makes the high filing rate for women most puzzling, however, is that it is generally assumed that overall husbands should be the ones most wanting out of marriage—particularly since the introduction of no-fault divorce. This understanding results from the focus on post-divorce finan￾cial status. Even by the most conservative accounts, the average divorced woman’s standard of living declines from the one she enjoyed during marriage, and it declines relatively more than does the average husband’s. Men often have an increase in their material well-being after divorce (Duncan and Hoffman, 1985; Finnie, 1993; Hill and O’Neill, 1994; 1. Nadine Taub has noted that many of these petitions may be attributable to the chivalrous custom of allowing the wife to file first (Stark, 1991, p. 1514, note 149). 2. Reid v. Reid (1989) and McLaughlin v. McLaughlin (1986) discuss the standard requiring justification before the wife’s desertion barred her from obtaining alimony under a now-amended law (Friedman and Percival, 1976, p. 79). 3. Although we recognize that filing for divorce is not the same as instigating a divorce, for many of the hypotheses we consider, this assumption will be made for reasons we will discuss shortly. We will include some evidence that the two are related, if not identical, when we discuss the Oregon data on long-term separations