Money and Couple Relationships

Forming Couple Relationships

It is well established that married couples enjoy higher incomes than do same-sex or opposite-sex couples who are living together. However, scientists have shown that getting married is linked to people's monetary situations, with people who are financially well-off being more likely to marry. Conversely, those who have little money or are poor are less likely to marry, with some never marrying. These conclusions stem from scores of studies that analyze information from thousands of people representative of the U.S. population, or large subgroups of the population, as well as studies based on lengthy interviews with a small number of individuals; the former is termed quantitative and the latter qualitative research.

Why is money related to getting married? There appears to be a cultural belief that one must be financially secure to wed and that marriage signifies that one is no longer struggling economically. Specific factors include having the money for a wedding and reception, a house, being debt-free, and not living paycheck to paycheck. Scientists have also found that, despite increasing commitment to equality between men and women, some people, both men and women, pay more attention to the man's economic situation than to the woman's in deciding about marriage. In other words, men's monetary standing has a stronger positive impact on marriage than does women's, suggesting a continued cultural emphasis on men as primary breadwinners.

Now that living together, or what is also termed cohabitation, has become commonplace and, indeed, the typical path to marriage, many family scientists have been studying the linkage between money and cohabitation as well as money and the movement into marriage among cohabiting couples. Qualitative research shows that many opposite-sex cohabitors explicitly state that the ability to save on expenses is an important and logical reason to move in with a romantic partner, given that the couple is usually already spending so much time together. They report that moving in with a partner allows couples to save money by combining resources and splitting a variety of expenses such as groceries, gas, electricity, and rent.

At the same time, cohabiting couples hold higher economic expectations for marriage than [Page 1112]for cohabitation. In other words, even after moving in together, the decision to get married is connected to economic circumstances: Marriage is more likely to occur when the couple is well-off in job stability and earnings. In addition, more emphasis is again placed by both men and women on men's economic capacity to be a breadwinner than on women's, although one recent study indicates that women's earnings are becoming increasingly important in the decision to marry.

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