The State of Our Unions

In Jan. 10 Daily Progress, one reporter sits down with an expert at U.Va. about the state of the marriages in our country and how it correlates to the recession our country has faced for the past year plus. I know that money is one of the biggest reasons marriages fail to begin with, so what extra stressors have married couples faced since the start of the “Great Recession?“

By Brian McNeill

University of Virginia sociology professor W. Bradford Wilcox was the lead editor of a new national report called “State of Our Unions” that examines marriage trends amidst the ongoing economic downturn that he calls the “Great Recession.“
Wilcox is director of the National Marriage Project, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research and analysis initiative that moved to UVa in the fall. Wilcox answered questions from The Daily Progress about what role the economy is playing in the current state of matrimony.

Q. The “State of Our Unions” report found that divorce fell during the recession. Why is this? Would the divorce rate increase as couples face more financial challenges?
A. It is true that many couples have been hit hard by the Great Recession. For some of them, the financial challenges associated with the Great Recession—unemployment, a foreclosure, or unpaid credit card debt—can lead to a downward spiral of conflict and recrimination that lands them in divorce court.
But, overall, divorce fell from 2007 to 2008, in the first full year of the recession. Now it is true that some couples seem to be simply postponing a divorce until their primary marital asset, their home, regains its value, thereby allowing them to walk away from their marriage in better financial shape.
But other couples appear to have developed a new appreciation for their marriage and family in these tough financial times. A recent Pew study found that a large minority of families are reporting that the Great Recession has brought them closer together. Couples in this group seem to be rediscovering the classic sociological truth that there is nothing like family to support and sustain you when the going gets tough.

Q. You have observed the so-called “mancession,“ a trend since 2007 in which working class men without a college degree are bearing the bulk of job losses. What does this mean for marriage?
A. Most people do not realize that marriage is in pretty good shape for the college-educated middle and upper classes. Divorce has been falling since 1980 and nonmarital childbearing remains low for couples with college degrees. But for working class and poor couples without college degrees, marriage is in bad shape. Divorce continues to climb for this group, as does nonmarital childbearing. In fact, couples without college degrees are twice as likely to divorce as couples with college degrees.
One of the big factors driving this “divorce divide” is male (un)employment. In recent years, college-educated men have done all right financially but working class men have not. They have seen their real wages fall and their rates of unemployment rise. Consequently, working class men are less attractive to the women in their lives as husbands and providers, and they are less likely to see themselves as capable of being good husbands and providers.
Unfortunately, the Great Recession has hit working class men especially hard; in fact, men without college degrees now have the highest levels of unemployment of any major group in America. So I would predict that divorce and nonmarital childbearing will continue to rise among poor and working class Americans.

Q. Once the economy begins to improve, what do you expect to see happen with regards to marriage?
A. It depends on the cultural consequences of the Great Recession. If this recession has an enduring effect on the ways in which Americans think about family and thrift, I would predict that we will see stronger marriages in the nation.
The State of Our Unions notes, for instance, that couples who do not spend beyond their means and build up assets are more likely to enjoy happy and stable marriages. So if the country witnesses an uptick in thrift, we can also anticipate improvements in married life.
But if the cultural consequences of the Great Recession are shortlived, and people do not treat their families and finances with care, then I would predict more challenges for marriage and family life in the United States.

Q. Has the recession affected couples decision to get married? Are couples choosing to delay marriage because of financial concerns? Or are they deciding to get married at a greater rate because they want a dual income and tax benefits?
A. The marriage rate has fallen modestly in the last year. Part of the story here is that couples are waiting to get married until the recession ends and their financial prospects improve.
But part of the story is that a growing number of couples are postponing marriage indefinitely, or not even giving it serious consideration, because their financial prospects are not bright enough to give them a reasonable shot at the American dream.

Q. As more couples stick together during the recession, are there any drawbacks? Infidelity? Spousal abuse?
A. I think the biggest drawback to this trend is that some couples with high levels of conflict—e.g., domestic violence—are, in all likelihood, not separating. For these couples, divorce may be the best option, especially because children do best when their parents part if their marriage is marked by a pattern of serious, ongoing conflict.
But bear in mind that most divorces involving children are not associated with such high levels of conflict. Current research suggests that children are most likely to suffer from a divorce if their parents divorce for reasons of unhappiness, because one spouse feels like the other spouse is not sufficiently engaged emotionally in the relationship, or for some other reason that is not related to a pattern of high conflict.
These low-conflict divorces seem particularly hard for children because the divorce comes largely as a surprise to them and leaves them with the impression that no relationship or marriage can be sustained over the long haul.
So if the recession is reducing these low-conflict divorces, that may be one of the few silver linings associated with today’s tough economic times.