Declining Illinois Unemployment Numbers: Promising News for Marriages

 Posted on October 06, 2014 in Divorce

There is encouraging news for Illinois as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) confirmed that the Illinois unemployment rate fell again in August, marking a decline for the fifth consecutive month. Not only is this encouraging news for Illinois, but perhaps even better news for men in the Prairie State. Recently, researchers at Ohio State University published survey results regarding the instance of marital strife due to the unemployment status of married men and the slim prospects for the unemployed single man seeking a marital partner.

Lead researcher Liana Sayer, a professor of Sociology at Ohio State University, worked in collaboration with the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Sayer and her team followed over 3,600 couples from 1986 to 2003. By using a series of questions, the group gauged how the couples felt about their marriages in general and then further collected data regarding employment and current earnings. Their goal was to determine if financial uncertainty would lead to divorce.

Seventy-five percent of the female participants directly indicated that they would not consider marriage to an unemployed partner. The study further revealed that an unemployed husband faces a higher risk of being sued for divorce by his spouse. Remarkably, the study also alluded that a married unemployed male may also choose to request a consultation with an experienced divorce attorney as financial difficulties increase. With regard to the wives who experienced a layoff, the marriage generally stayed on track.

A recent interview with research team lead Sayer, posted by The Huffington Post, suggests that the study provides new insight into how marriages now place new and different values on today’s marriages and expectations of marital partners. Sayer also discussed that this new insight on how economics can affect marriage is a welcomed new direction in research since it is one of the very few studies that relied on data collected from both sides of the marital fence.

Although research studies can gauge current societal views, divorce can prove challenging no matter the gender seeking to dissolve a marriage. The qualified Arlington Heights divorce attorneys of A. Traub & Associates set the bar high when it comes to quickly and effectively reaching an equitable compromise between both spouses through divorce mediation. If you reside in Arlington Heights or DuPage and Cook counties, contact our Arlington Heights location at 847-749-4182 for more information on our legal services.