With Divorce On Horizon, Study Says Men Kick Back at Work and Women Work Harder
An interesting report out of Cornell University offers two key conclusions.
First, men contemplating divorce tend to cut back their efforts on the job. Anecdotal evidence strongly supports this conclusion.
The study does not really analyze the reason behind the finding, simply stating that men “do not throw themselves into work” when things turn unpleasant at home. But one might plausibly explain the conclusion of the study by a desire to weaken a claim for spousal support.
The second conclusion, at the opposite end of the spectrum, is more interesting.
Women contemplating divorce tend to increase their efforts on the job. This is less obvious, although also supported by anecdotal evidence.
The study rationalizes this conclusion in part by the explanation that women throw themselves into the happier environment at work when things turn unpleasant at home. But the larger part of the explanation is that women facing divorce try to prepare themselves to be financially self-sufficient.
Read more in this Australian Sunday Times article: Wives work longer as divorce looms.
