I gave a breakdown of the most common reasons cited in a BBC article on the topic. Among my age group of long-married couples, it is typical for women to stay in the marriage until children are raised, despite serious issues, and then to ask for change or counseling or both, and it doesn't happen. This is literally the experience of all of my female friends who are divorced, as well as my female friends who remain in unhappy marriages. To your point that mind reading doesn't work, I completely agree, which is why I'm a fan of early and consistent marriage counseling. I'm proud to say that my son is about to get his Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy. Lots of couples need help. An interesting parallel statistic is that 70% of counselors/therapists are women. Maybe men just aren't as interested in counseling? There's a generational shift happening, though, which I am really happy to see. It leave me hopeful that marriages in the future may be happier, with better communication. I hope that you hope for that, too.