A survey by the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia finds that the recession has placed a great deal of financial stress on couples across America. But rather than this stress resulting in large increases in the divorce rate, it has instead resulted in a significant number of couples postponing divorce. Furthermore, many of the couples surveyed reported a deepening of their commitment to marriage.
The survey looked at 1,197 married Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 and took place in December 2010 to January 2011. Financial stressors were identified as a problem by 31 percent of the couples surveyed.
For couples who were considering divorce or separation prior to the recession (about 5 percent of the survey respondents), 38 percent said that the recession had caused them to put aside their divorce plans. While this is a relatively small number, it aligns with the results of a larger survey – the 2010 State of Our Unions – that indicates that divorce rates have actually fallen since the recession began.
Divorce rates may be down (in Arizona, from 6.9 in 1990 to 3.5 in 2009, a year after the recession began), but marital happiness for those under financial stress is down as well. For those couples experiencing two or more financial stressors (job loss, lower income, difficulty with housing payments, etc.), only 27 percent report they are in a happy marriage. Not surprisingly, those couples with the greatest financial stress are at almost three times greater risk for eventually getting divorced.
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