Shadrach Loom
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
To quote one wife of my acquaintance, whose husband had ME/CFS - "I got fed up with him lying in bed all day so I sent him back to his mother"
There aren't good stats but there's a lot of anecdotal views about the role of illness as a basis for divorce, and statistically women are more likely to precipitate proceedings. Also appears to be (at least in England & Wales) a gender differential in who cares for who - quote from Guardian on ONS data, (I can't find the report ONS) https://www.theguardian.com/society...ce-as-likely-to-be-informal-carers-ons-report
"There is also a difference in the people men and women are providing care for, with men more likely than women to care for a spouse. Whereas men tend to either care for their parents or spouse, women often provide care to a broader range of people, including non-relatives. When a need for care arises, women tend to take up the role."
Given the many of cultural and class differences, on balance I think it's difficult to generalise but it is probably wrong to rely on any certainties about male/female roles in modern developed countries. My own experience as bloke was that despite being ill I was far more a carer than a caree.
Which is why empirical research beats lazy assumptions. I withdraw the comment.
I’m just very grateful for the anecdata obtained from my wife and daughters’ caring over the last year.
