Marriages where the couple had children together are considerably less likely to end than marriages without children. A recent Canadian poll showed an effect size of ~60%. [1] Table 1 covers this nicely.
I’d be curious what data you’re citing to suggest children are by far the most destructive thing for a happy marriage. It seems like the kind of redditism most popular with people for whom it doesn’t apply :)
Chiming in late to say destruction of a happy marriage does not necessarily lead to divorce. Plenty of couples in essentially dead marriages “stay together for the kids” to provide some semblance of a normal family, regardless of whether it’s actually a better outcome. OTOH unhappy marriages with no children have relatively few obstacles standing in the way of divorce.
