I recently read this article by Rosemary Brennan from Glamour’s website. It’s about the effects of commute-time on relationships (namely marriages) as discovered by a Swedish study. The findings stated that individuals who spent 45 minutes or more driving/commuting to work are 40 percent more likely to divorce. It appears that the long-commuting spouse arrives home exhausted and therefore is too tired to handle ‘around-the-house’ duties, making the other spouse feel resentful.
It’s important to note that this study focused mostly on newer relationships where the male was engaging in the long commute and the female had been “forced” to take a low-paying, nearby job (presumably to take care of the children?). Since the man was too tired to do housework, the woman felt even more upset because she was being placed in the stereotypical gender role as the keeper of the home.
I wish the study would have been able to explain what a long commute can do to a relationship, regardless of the gender of the commuter. It’s hard to tell if there is really a story here…maybe it’s just another case of women getting angry with husbands who don’t put the dishes away or pick up their laundry?
