Financial woes: Do they really play a role in divorce?

You and your spouse started out with a relationship you never thought would be anything but fantastic. You’d known each other for a few years, and when you decided to get married, you knew that you were right for each other.

That was before one of you lost a job and the other went through health problems. Though everything has worked out now, you have some resentment and you feel you’ve grown apart. Money played a role in your dissatisfaction over time, and now you’re ready to move on and get a divorce. Here’s an interesting topic about divorce that you may want to learn more about.

Studies over divorce show how finances affect marriage

There are many things that can lead to divorce, but one of the primary causes is money. Studies have shown that couples with money are less likely to experience marital woes than those without.

Checking that theory was a test that looked into the marital satisfaction of 431 couples living in Los Angeles County. They were all living in low-income neighborhoods and were required to answer an eight-item questionnaire about marital satisfaction five times between 2009 and 2014.

The researchers then looked at the results to determine a few things. First, the researchers wanted to see the initial level of marital satisfaction. Around 60% were rated as having high marital satisfaction at the time of the wedding. Moderate satisfaction was marked around 30% of the time, while 10% of couples were not satisfied initially.

Following the couples over the next five years, the researchers tracked marital satisfaction across each group. Interestingly, the couples who marked “high satisfaction” initially were more likely to remain in that group, as were those who marked “moderate satisfaction.” It was the final group on unsatisfied individuals who had sharp declines in overall marital satisfaction over the course of the study.

The study also split the couples up by gender. Surprisingly, it was women with initial low levels of satisfaction that had the steepest declines, while husbands in the same situation initially declined in satisfaction but eventually rebounded after between three and five years of marriage.

This is an interesting topic to discuss, and you may be able to see similar trends in your own relationship. Keep in mind that no two relationships are the same, and your financial standing doesn’t necessarily play a role in marital satisfaction overall.

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