You got a source for that?
Real world experience, and common sense. Sadly, I don't think that's a statistics set that they collect numbers on, so I wouldn't be able to provide hardcore numbers, even if I wanted to. Fact remains, marriage was instituted, in part, as a way to give financial security to the women entering into the contract. As a result, it's counterproductive to marry a man who comes from a lower financial class than yourself. This is not to say that some don't do it, only to say that most women will, given the choice between two men, all other aspects identical, will choose the richer one for a husband. To corroborate, this syncs with other sentiments from women we hear about how a man without a job/income is "A Loser" and how a man that doesn't have a place of his own is "A manchild living in his momma's basement". It is therefore reasonable to extrapolate that sentiment into realizing that a man lacking financial status identical or surpassing hers, will likely not be married to her in the future barring a change in financial status.
This brings us back to my original point of making sure that you really know who you're sharing you life with before popping a ring on her finger. If your wife is going to end a marriage as flippantly as that, I can guarantee you that there will be signs of your impending doom long before the wedding.
Just one problem with that. People change. Constantly. The women you know 20 years down the line is not going to be the same woman you married twenty years ago. The same body, sure, but given that we are the sum of our experiences, both good and bad, we are a constantly evolving species, especially when it comes to things such as personality. Point being, you have no way of knowing she won't change down the line, and given that marriage contracts are for life, that's a pretty damned big risk to take, trusting someone else not to implode your financial future possibly decades down the line. Sure, you may see the warning signs coming then, but by then, you've already signed the contract, and it's too late.
Yeah, this aspect is pretty shitty for guys. However, if you get custody of the kids, you'll be fine. Keep in mind that the courts do take the kids point of view into consideration. If the kids say they want to live with their dad instead of their mom, the courts will almost always let the kids live with their dad.
I think you underestimate how biased Family Court here in the US is towards women. Many a man has been going about his life, providing for his family, when BAM! Divorce Suit, and while during the marriage, he was the upstanding provider always making sure his clan never wanted for anything, during the court suit, he suddenly becomes a drug user, a drunkard, a wife-beater, and a child molester. And the filing wife does this, because she knows it will get a sympathetic judge to ramp up various awards to her. Additionally, there is almost no burden of proof necessary to get these claims on the record. Try to introduce similar claims from the Defendant's side, though, and you will be labelled a Deadbeat who just wants to smear some poor woman because she dared to leave you. I can't speak for Canada, but in the US, it's an open secret that a lack of due process in Family Court is a slow fester that is going to rot the institution from inside out.
like if you get put on life support and you're in constant suffering, you can give your spouse permission to have the doctors pull the plug, or let her give the order to keep you alive.
Two words. "Advance Directive". Just as legally effective as a female S.O. being your wife. Further, AD trumps Next-of-Kin for medical decisions, so you avoid the complex argument you saw with Terry Schaivo, for example, because it's very difficult to argue with a written/notarized legal document.
As for work benefits, I will note that in an age of globalization, Americans are quickly losing those benefits. A very small portion of the populace have them, in comparison to the workforce, at large, and that number is likely to continue to shrink as megacorporations continue offshoring their production operations.
If there was a way to guarantee a person's personality would never change for the worse, then I could understand your viewpoint. But once you've signed that contract and put a ring on her finger, you're locked in for life. Even if she was sweet and kind when you first married, that's no guarantee decades down the line she won't decide to blow everything up and get the hell out of dodge, leaving you to pick up the pieces of your shattered life and financial security. And you're right. She may never do it. It's possible that she may never even think the word "Divorce". However, given how skewed the system is in her favor (We're posting on a sub called "Pussy Pass", just to give a bit of context...so please don't try to say it isn't skewed in their favor, for were it true, this sub would not exist.) why even make it a possibility? The risks far outweigh the rewards.