Long the goal of marriage, "happily ever after" is being reimagined by books and movies as the chief export of divorce, wrote Postmedia News July 12.

A leading Canadian divorce researcher, however, warns that escapism carries a high price, if not for couples who've survived a split than for those teetering on the edge of their vows.

"They may find self-renewal, but it comes at the expense of a lot of suffering," says Anne-Marie Ambert, a retired professor of sociology at York University [Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies]. "There's definitely a crop of children who are very, very negatively affected by their parents' divorce."

Ambert's research finds 221 divorces per 100,000 population in Canada, representing a significant decline from 362 in the late 1980s. Nevertheless, roughly two in five marriages dissolve before the 30th anniversary.

"The truth is that only about a third of all divorces are the result of what we'd call 'bad marriages’," says Ambert.

Posted by Arielle Zomer, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – York University’s daily e-bulletin.