Twelve minutes of extra work each week has been equated with women getting "divorce insurance". Women are looking to secure their financial options in case of divorce. With cheap divorces diminishing as a cultural taboo in Philadelphia and across the U.S., more information is available about post-divorce life and women are realizing that they may encounter severe economic challenges.
The London School of Economics and Political Science, under the direction of Dr. Berkay Ozcan, published findings that for every one percent increase in the risk of marital breakdown, women will work twelve more minutes per week. Women who are knowingly headed for divorce have been found to be working more time. Though this should not be confused with working women being more prone to divorce.
Dr. Ozcan has noted that women will work more hours and sacrifice their free time and personal well-being in order to secure a financial cushion. The money set aside is not necessarily a large portion, but will help females in the short-term. There were also separate findings that women in the workforce increased by fourteen percent. The extra money saved can be used to pay for a cheap uncontested divorce, and post divorce living expenses.
In general, Americans are already working more hours than Europeans. Studies have documented Americans work thirty percent more than Europeans. Divorce rates and taxes have accounted for the reason Americans work more than Europeans. U.S. women have been found to be the largest contributor to increasing the percentage of hours worked in the United States.
These women do not in all cases end up signing uncontested divorce papers. The study highlighted that while these women anticipated divorce, some women did keep their marriages intact. With the rising cost of daily living and the potential for a costly divorce women are taking measures to protect their financial well being.
In addition, the study did not find that women who worked more spent less time with their children, and fathers did not spend more time with them. There was no correlation found between husbands working more time in order to create additional finances in case of a possible divorce.
The study was conducted in Ireland, but has global implications. Both religious and non-religious groups participated in the study. An estimated 3,000 households were used for the research.
