BY ADITI MISHRA
A person’s professional life can influence their personal life, even when they try to maintain work-life balance. Long hours, emergency calls, extra shifts, and workplace stress can affect an individual's relationships with friends and, more importantly, their married life. A US occupational ranking shows a list of professions that are placed high on the list of divorce rates, while others are near the end.
A survey from the American Community Survey, 2024, by FlowingData noted that divorce rates among healthcare practitioners ranged up to 48.3% and 14.2% among actuaries. Telemarketers, massage therapists, and even bus drivers also had marked high divorce rates in the list while physicians, pharmacists and physical therapists had lower rates.
The survey data covers people who have been married at least once, including those who are now divorced, separated, or have remarried. The data nowhere means that working in certain professions leads to divorce or the divorce cases filed in 2024.
Several healthcare-related occupations have been ranked high on the list and other healthcare practitioners reportedly recorded 48.3%, followed by ambulance drivers and attendants which was rated 47.3%, psychiatrists aides at 47.2%, licensed vocational and practical nurses were also at 47.2% while home health aides also appeared in the wider ranking, at 45.9%.
These healthcare professions come with various responsibilities and challenges; many of them involve long working hours and hectic schedules.
Ambulance workers handle emergencies, nurses often work in rotations, and home health aides are responsible for taking care of people who need help with everyday chores and tasks.
Irregular working hours and stress related to work do not allow an individual to give the required time to family, which may put strain on personal relationships, but the data alone does not prove that these factors lead to unsuccessful marriages.
Medbound Times connected with Sameer Nandwani, Advocate and Legal Consultant in practice since 2002, to get a better understanding of Healthcare Jobs With Lowest Divorce Rates.
How can long working hours, frequent travel, night shifts, or unpredictable schedules affect a couple's relationship?
In my professional experience, a lack of companionship is one of the major reasons behind divorce. People seek emotional connection and companionship in marriage, but busy schedules, long working hours and mental stress can leave couples with little time for each other. As a result, some individuals may begin seeking emotional intimacy and support in their workplace, which can sometimes lead to infidelity or office affairs and, eventually, divorce.
What relationship challenges might arise when one partner works irregular or overnight shifts, such as in medicine, nursing, or emergency care?
In my professional experience, I have rarely come across divorce cases involving couples who work in the same profession, including two medical professionals. They tend to understand each other’s workload, schedules, and professional pressures. However, conflicts can arise when one partner is employed, and the other is not. The working partner may need time to rest on their days off, while the other may expect to spend quality time together. This difference in expectations can sometimes lead to disagreements.
Do clients ever describe work-related stress, financial pressure, or limited time together as factors in their decision to seek a divorce?
Financial pressure is certainly a factor in divorce. However, I have rarely seen workload alone become a direct reason for couples to separate. That said, work-related stress can leave a person mentally and physically exhausted, reducing their capacity or willingness to provide emotional and sexual intimacy. Over time, this lack of intimacy can create insecurity, mistrust, and suspicion that a partner may be seeking emotional or physical fulfilment elsewhere. When these issues remain unresolved, they can strain the relationship to the point where divorce becomes a consideration.
Some healthcare jobs ranked among the occupations with higher divorce rates, while several other specialized healthcare professions recorded lower divorce rates. Physical therapists secured 19.0%, physicians at 20.1%, pharmacists at 20.3%, and surgeons at 20.8%.
Speech pathologists, optometrists, and occupational therapists each recorded 21.1%, while dentists recorded 21.4%.
These jobs also come with heavy responsibilities and workloads, but some workers have comparatively more control over their working hours depending on their role and workspace.
Though, the data does not explain why these professions have lower divorce rates than others and it also does not determine that people working in these professions do not face issues in their relationships.
Apart from healthcare professionals, there are other professions that are included in the survey data. Telemarketers recorded a rate of 48.0%, followed by massage therapists at 47.9% and bus drivers at 47.8%. There were other professions also on the list, such as Supervisors of personal care and service workers and press machine operators, each recorded 47.6%, while correctional supervisors stood at 47.5%, whereas casino workers recorded 46.9%, bartenders 46.8%, and ushers and ticket takers were at 46.2%.
At the lower end, actuaries recorded the lowest reported divorce rates at 14.2%. Other physical scientists followed at 17.2%, IT scientists at 18.7% and software developers at 18.9%. Clergy recorded 20.2%, while atmospheric and space scientists stood at 20.4%.
These survey reports, though, do not mean that education, income, or predictable working hours are responsible for the results.
There are many factors that may affect the differences between occupations, but they are not proven reasons for reported divorce cases.
Long and Irregular Working Hours: Night shifts, overtime working hours, and rotating schedules can make it difficult for people to spend time with their family or partners.
Work-Related Stress: Emergency responses, demanding workloads, and targets can exhaust a person mentally, which affects their time and energy at home.
Financial Pressure: Low income can add strain to household budgets, needs, and childcare arrangements.
Time Away From Home: Long commutes and extended shifts can kill the will of a person to spend quality time at home.
Age, income, education, previous marital history, and other personal circumstances may affect marital life, but data cannot determine the role each factor plays.
Medbound Times connected with Manasi Bhushan, an advocate at the Supreme Court, High Court, and District Courts, to get insights on whether factors such as long working hours and work-related stress, and limited time with family contribute to marital conflict, especially among working medical professionals. Are there any other factors that people may overlook?
Long working hours and work stress usually lead to limited time for interaction between the couple. Because of excessive workload and stress, when partners' expectations of each other aren’t met, they start to develop grievances. It worsens when they don’t even have time to discuss their grievances due to this communication gap. One of our clients (a working husband) said that he found it difficult to cope with the expectations of his wife (housewife) to take her out on parties at night or on weekends. It is because he expected to relax and stay at home, whereas the wife wanted to step out like her friends used to do. These issues then escalated and even led to verbal fights and physical assaults on each other. Another client (wife) mentioned that the husband used to work till late at night which made her suspect about his extra marital affairs and eventually she found out that the husband was cheating on her with his colleague. Another client (wife) had an issue with the husband that he did not disclose this income to her, which made her insecure about her and their child’s future. During the settlement talks, the husband expressed his concern that he would never reveal his income to the wife, as she used to dictate how much and where to spend, which undermined his financial independence. Another client (husband) shared that his wife stopped fulfilling her marital duties, i.e., looking after his parents, cooking meals, and taking care of the house, as his wife had become too ambitious after starting to work post Covid. This resulted in verbal fights amongst the family.
The findings of the survey suggest that divorce rates vary across different occupations, including healthcare professions too.
Some healthcare-related roles appear to be at the top of the survey list, while physicians, pharmacists, and physical therapists appear at the end of the list.
The existing research also suggests that working hours may affect marital peace for some people or professions, including female physicians, but occupational ranking cannot establish the outcome of an individual relationship or prove that a certain job leads to divorce.
(Rh/AM)
