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Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

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Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#51

Post by thrway2670 »

ethanbond wrote: post #6
koolba wrote: post #2

> The big factor, Harvard sociology professor Alexandra Killewald found, is the husband's employment status. For the past four decades, she discovered, husbands who aren’t employed full time have a 3.3 percent chance of getting divorced in any given year, compared with 2.5 percent for husbands employed full time. In other words, their marriages are one-third more likely to break up. Interesting. I'd be curious to see…

I imagine there are a lot factors. Time spent together skyrocketing, financial instability causing stress, and the fact that a lot of men tie their identity to their employment so strongly. Becoming unemployed is immensely turbulent in pretty much every way.

Having your wife discover she's a lesbian after 15 years is another way. Ask how I know.

Never again.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#52

Post by vacri »

rustynails wrote: post #39

It's a disappointing article in that it makes many narrowly focused and unfounded assumptions and one conclusion. I've recently been doing an indepth study of sexism in Australia starting at 1970. I've poured over archives (and I'm documenting it) to see how Australia went off the rails with its sexist attitude (eg. Domestic Violence is male only, or a revised false history of voting-who could and when). What I have…

My mother was a teacher in Australia in the early '70s. Her pay rate was 2/3rds that of male teachers, simply because of her gender.

> I've never been able to reconcile the modern story compared to my own family's history.

Look up the term 'anecdata'. You really need to look at things at a demographic level, not just "well, my family...".

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#53

Post by T2_t2 »

cname wrote: post #49
rustynails wrote: post #39

It's a disappointing article in that it makes many narrowly focused and unfounded assumptions and one conclusion. I've recently been doing an indepth study of sexism in Australia starting at 1970. I've poured over archives (and I'm documenting it) to see how Australia went off the rails with its sexist attitude (eg. Domestic Violence is male only, or a revised false history of voting-who could and when). What I have…

Aiming STEM programs at girls isn't sexist. That just isn't what "sexist" means. Those programs exist to correct an imbalance caused by actual sexism.

> Those programs exist to correct an imbalance caused by actual sexism.

Is the new statistical model: "Correlation not equal to causation unless it agrees with my politics"?

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#54

Post by vacri »

seizethecheese wrote: post #8
Retra wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think there's any causal link?

There may be, but it also may be that there is a third factor which makes the husband more likely to be unemployed and also a less valuable mate.

The very word 'factor' requires there to be more than one. A single thing can't be the factor.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#55

Post by sverige »

I have personally witnessed couples where the cause of the job loss was marital stress. Husband's job performance suffered because of things going on at home, company decides to cut back jobs, stressed husband is on the low end of performance and gets cut. It just adds to the mess at that point. Often the wife felt that the husband was less than he was before without his job, and ditched him.

I've also seen men in that situation who bounce back professionally after a divorce. Usually not immediately, but relatively short term (1 to 5 years).

The correlation is not that surprising, but I agree with others here who note that it is not provable as causation. Too many factors.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#56

Post by bruceb »

exstudent2 wrote: post #32
mjevans wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I view it as the study went looking for X, and to it's surprise didn't see X, but happened to see statistical significance in Y. However the study did not have the scope to determine why Y occurred. I think the most likely thing that changed over time is Z: the first wave(s) of feminism began to liberate females from the traditional limitations of roles in society. However the true from of feminism is a recognition a…

> Men haven't had that liberation; a large part of society still believes in specific roles and responsibilities for men that coupled females are (at their option) exempted from. This probably leads to increased stress to both individuals and also an increased risk of negative feedback loops for the situation and everyone involved. Sadly that role restructuring, when driven by men, is still almost universally derided…

I would say you are getting down voted because the MRM seems to be not limited to trying to make things better for men but also endless attacking women and creating stawman(woman) feminism.

Men do face many challenges. Some men have dangerous jobs which they die providing for society (fishing, war, etc). This doesn't get enough acknowledgement. But one doesn't have to be a total jerk to make this point and tear others down.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#57

Post by mindslight »

exstudent2 wrote: post #32
mjevans wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I view it as the study went looking for X, and to it's surprise didn't see X, but happened to see statistical significance in Y. However the study did not have the scope to determine why Y occurred. I think the most likely thing that changed over time is Z: the first wave(s) of feminism began to liberate females from the traditional limitations of roles in society. However the true from of feminism is a recognition a…

> Men haven't had that liberation; a large part of society still believes in specific roles and responsibilities for men that coupled females are (at their option) exempted from. This probably leads to increased stress to both individuals and also an increased risk of negative feedback loops for the situation and everyone involved. Sadly that role restructuring, when driven by men, is still almost universally derided…

The second rule of fight club is don't fucking whine about downvotes.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#58

Post by DominikR »

ethanbond wrote: post #6
koolba wrote: post #2

> The big factor, Harvard sociology professor Alexandra Killewald found, is the husband's employment status. For the past four decades, she discovered, husbands who aren’t employed full time have a 3.3 percent chance of getting divorced in any given year, compared with 2.5 percent for husbands employed full time. In other words, their marriages are one-third more likely to break up. Interesting. I'd be curious to see…

I imagine there are a lot factors. Time spent together skyrocketing, financial instability causing stress, and the fact that a lot of men tie their identity to their employment so strongly. Becoming unemployed is immensely turbulent in pretty much every way.

> and the fact that a lot of men tie their identity to their employment so strongly

At least this part is nothing new. Men have always (up until now and I'd argue that this is still true today) tied their identity, masculinity and even self-worth as a human being to their profession as society expected men contribute the necessary resources to their families in order to support wife & children.

If a man couldn't provide the resources anymore he usually lost his value and function to his family and society.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#59

Post by rhizome »

exstudent2 wrote: post #32
mjevans wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I view it as the study went looking for X, and to it's surprise didn't see X, but happened to see statistical significance in Y. However the study did not have the scope to determine why Y occurred. I think the most likely thing that changed over time is Z: the first wave(s) of feminism began to liberate females from the traditional limitations of roles in society. However the true from of feminism is a recognition a…

> Men haven't had that liberation; a large part of society still believes in specific roles and responsibilities for men that coupled females are (at their option) exempted from. This probably leads to increased stress to both individuals and also an increased risk of negative feedback loops for the situation and everyone involved. Sadly that role restructuring, when driven by men, is still almost universally derided…

It makes a difference that the MR movement is almost completely regressive.

Re: Harvard Study: Biggest Factor in Divorce Is Husband's Employment Status

#60

Post by enave »

sokoloff wrote: post #13
antisthenes wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My interest lies in why is the baseline so high in the first place? 2.5%/y sounds like an unacceptable risk , considering how devastating divorce is for men by design (in the USA, at least)

An unacceptable risk, compared to what? Never marrying? Living comes with a 100% chance of dying.

Yes but there's no alternative to living, so it's not a factor to consider.
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