In a 2018 study, Dr. Jeff Dew, Dr. Ashley LeBaron-Black, and David Allsop found that certain factors are related to couples not only maintaining but improving their marriages during stressful financial situations.
The article found factors that predicted higher marital commitment due to the difficult economic conditions of the 2007-2009 recession. Familiar with previous research on the negative impact of the recession, both financially1,2 and relationally,3,4 the researchers recognized the need to determine what positive impact, if any, arose from the recession. To determine the positive effects of the recession and possible reasons for a couple’s growth during economic hardship, the researchers asked participants one key question: how much the recession had deepened their commitment to their marriage.
Along with that key question, the researchers posed additional questions that shed light on why a participant believed that the recession might have deepened their marital commitment. The survey asked whether participants had experienced objective financial stressors such as reduced working hours, being laid off from work, or foreclosure on their home. Additionally, it asked whether participants felt that the recession had brought financial stress to the marriage. Experiencing an objective financial stressor, like reduced pay, did not always financially stress the marriage. On the other hand, not having an objective financial stressor did not always lead to the participant feeling less financial stress on the marriage.
The survey asked about four factors that, when coupled with marital stress due to the recession, may have led a couple to experience a deepened commitment. First was the couple’s financial capabilities, such as whether the couple went into the recession with a sizable savings account. Second was the couple’s engagement in relationship maintenance behaviors, such as performing service for a spouse or spending quality time together. Third was the couple’s participation in religious activities, such as viewing the marriage as sacred and attending religious services together.
The fourth factor was social and financial support from family and friends. Social support meant positive interactions that promoted deeper commitment to and a better psychological view of the marriage. Financial support meant financial assistance that allowed the couple to take steps toward owning their own home, maintaining their standard of living, and other similar financial aid.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that only three of the four factors were statistically more present in those who reported an increased commitment to their marriage. Relationship maintenance behaviors, such as asking a spouse about their day, was a key factor.
Religious activity, namely viewing marriage as sacred, was also a key factor. Finally, the last key factor was accepting social and financial support from family and friends.
Applying These Findings
Dr. LeBaron-Black and colleagues’ study leaves us with the question: how can I use these findings to improve my own marriage? The following list includes a few ways that you can use marital stressors as catalysts to deepen your commitment and draw closer to your spouse.
1. Speak as a couple about the things that add stress to the marriage. It seems that recognizing and remaining aware of potential stressors to the marriage, on a daily basis, allows couples to work as a team on overcoming that stressor. Taking time to regularly speak openly with each other about what might be causing problems in the marriage can help both spouses understand each other’s thoughts about stressors. Hopefully, this will also allow you both to come to an agreement on how to best navigate your relationship through times of added marital stress.
2. Engage in relationship maintenance behaviors regularly. Asking how your spouse’s day went may seem like a small gesture, but behaviors such as this may help your marriage flourish during difficult times. Actively taking time to show your spouse that you are interested in and care about their daily life and wellbeing can help them see that you want your relationship to continue and to grow. Another example of relationship maintenance behavior might include performing an act of service for your spouse, such as making a meal for them, or giving them a heartfelt gift. In essence, this finding suggests that doing the ‘little things’ on a regular and consistent basis will likely pay off.
3. View your marriage as sacred. Viewing your marriage as holding a sacred significance seems to help couples thrive during adversity. Not all couples are religious, so viewing the marriage as one of the most important pieces of your life, seeing it as something that you want to last, and as something having a higher purpose can allow you and your spouse to create and maintain a lasting marriage.
4. Reach out for and accept social and financial support when needed. Every marriage has difficulties. While some of the details are often best kept private, the findings suggest it is important to seek help from family and friends who can encourage you and your spouse to keep working together. In times of financial struggle, it can be embarrassing to ask for financial assistance from family and friends. However, asking for financial advice, for help with educational/child expenses, or for help with maintaining a reasonable standard of living has the potential to bring a couple closer together and overcome financial challenges.
Important to note is that going into debt, even to a family member, can become more burdensome than helpful if not properly accounted for in a family budget or if the terms of the loan are unclear. Couples should consult together, looking at how they will be able to afford a loan, before accepting one. They should also consider other options, such as monetary gifts or acts of service from family and friends, before committing to one course of action.
Summary
Due to Dr. Dew, Dr. LeBaron-Black, and Allsop’s study, we know that some factors are correlated with marriages that thrived during the 2007-2009 recession. Engaging in behaviors that maintain a marriage, seeing a marriage as sacred or as having a higher purpose, and reaching out to family and friends for social and financial support may have a flourishing effect on marriages during hardship. Also, consistently speaking about possible stressors on the marriage and working together to protect a marriage from those stressors can enable a couple to become more committed as they face these stressors together.
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1Fligstein, N., & Goldstein, A. (2009). Catalyst of disaster: Subprime mortgage securitization and the roots of the great recession. Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, 1–43. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/83x2h03n#page-1
2Blomquist, D. (2012). Slideshow: 2012 foreclosure market outlook [website]. http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion/slideshow-2012-foreclosure-market-outlook-7021
3Dew, J. P., & Xiao, J. J. (2013). Financial declines, financial behaviors, and relationship satisfaction during the recession. Journal of Financial Therapy, 4(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.4148/jft.v4i1.1723
4Stewart, R. C., Dew, J. P., & Lee, Y. G. (2017). The association between employment- and housing-related financial stressors and marital outcomes during the 2007–2009 Recession. Journal of Financial Therapy, 8(1), 43–61. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1125
5Conger, R. D., Rueter, M. A., & Elder, G. H. Jr. (1999). Couple resilience to economic pressure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 54–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.54
6Patterson, J. M. (2002). Integrating family resilience and family stress theory. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2002.00349.x