You would wonder that unless a wife of a merchant seaman had a strong extended family support system, that any marriage survived, if you had children to feed and support. It meant, unless you were getting money somehow from your spouse, you had to go out and work to feed your family. Women were very vulnerable and there were lots of men who took advantage. I've been studying a family here and the friend's mother was an unmarried mum at 16 and so was her mother .. I don't think either had many opportunities and one survived as best you could.