By now, we have all seen a Hallmark Christmas movie or two (or 12). These movies commonly revolve around the overworked person or career-driven person finally discovering what is important in life and finding love. Many have also seen those movies that focus on the workaholics who destroy their marriages by focusing too much on their careers and neglecting their spouses and family. However, is there any truth to these stories? Can your career have such an impact?
Recent data
According to United States Census Data, which was analyzed by Zippia, there are some careers that do have higher divorce rates than other careers. Zippia looked at divorce rates at 30, and then, sorted those rates by careers. Of course, correlation does not equal causation, and there could be some other factor affecting divorce rates in these groups that is actually outside of their employment. But, there does seem to be some commonalities between those careers with higher divorce rates.
Careers with the highest divorce rates
Active-duty military personnel and blue-collar workers have the highest divorce rates. However, active-duty military has a much higher divorce rate than even their blue-collar worker compatriots. There is some speculation that the divorce rates stem from the amount of time these workers spend away from their families. Active-duty military personnel spend months away from their families, which may account for their stark divorce rates. Similarly, blue-collar workers commonly work well over 50, 60 and even 80 hours a week. While this is not as bad as active-duty military personnel, this amount of time away from family is much higher than most other professions.
Money may be an exacerbating factor
A big difference between active-duty military personnel and blue-collar workers that may explain some of the disparity between these two high-divorce rate fields is money. Blue-collar workers spend many hours at work, but they are usually compensated for the many hours paid at or above overtime rates. This means that these families also do not have to worry about their financial survival along with their emotional needs. For many active-duty military families, they do not find themselves in such an enviable situation. After all, we can all agree that we tragically underpay our military.
The takeaway
Perhaps, the biggest takeaway for us this holiday season is that family matters. We need to devote the time needed to keep those relationships strong. Unfortunately, for some, it is too late, and for them, they will likely need a Juneau, Alaska, family law attorney.