Is Your Job Bad for Your Relationship? 15 Careers With the Highest Divorce Rates
When you’re looking for a job, you likely consider whether the work is interesting, how much it pays and its benefits.
But have you ever thought about the effect your work might have on your relationship with your significant other? Or the impact of your partner’s job on your relationship?
Some jobs seem naturally more likely to cause friction. For example, you might guess that high-stress jobs are bad for relationships, but that’s not always the case. Firefighter, military personnel and airline pilot all show up on Forbes list of the most stressful jobs of 2016, but do not appear on the Statista list of the 15 jobs with the highest divorce rate.
So what are the careers with the highest divorce rates? You probably won’t be surprised by the first few.
1. Dancers and Choreographers
This category tops the list, with a divorce rate of 43.05%.
Of course, dancing can be romantic and intimate. The environment and practice sessions seem to affect even those who are new to dancing. Consider the many confirmed hookups that have happened between contestants on the reality show “Dancing With the Stars.”
2. Bartenders
This is perhaps the least surprising profession on the list. After all, how does a bartender get the best tips, apart from providing excellent service? Flirting comes to mind.
The divorce rate for bartenders is 38.43%.
3. Massage Therapists
Who did you touch today? Even if it isn’t asked, it’s a question that might be on your spouse’s mind when you walk through the door after a long day as a massage therapist.
Clients often develop a crush on their massage therapists, and sometimes try to date them, massage therapist Daniel Reinisch told Glamour. He mentioned one marriage that resulted from a work relationship, and he said of a massage therapist friend who has many female clients, “…it would be ludicrous to deny his attraction to all these women…”
The divorce rate for massage therapists: 38.22%.
4. and 5. Casino Workers
When I worked as a blackjack dealer, it was difficult to keep track of who was dating whose wife or husband, and who was breaking up or getting together. The environment is one of gambling and partying, perhaps making it conducive to risky behavior.
Gaming service workers have a 31.35% divorce rate, according to Statista. Cage workers (cashiers and money counters) have an even higher divorce rate (34.66%), so maybe the problem is money. Is it a dangerous aphrodisiac?
Other Jobs With High Divorce Rates
Some of the jobs on the Statista list are surprising. For example, why would extruding machine operators have a divorce rate of 32.74%, landing at sixth on the list?
And who would have guessed that factory workers would get the No. 7 spot, with a divorce rate of 29.78%?
Here are the rest of the 15 professions that might negatively impact your relationships, along with their divorce rates:
- Telephone operators: 29.30%
- Nursing, psychiatric and home health aides: 28.95%
- Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers: 28.49%
- Baggage porters and concierges: 28.49%
- Telemarketers: 28.10%
- Waiters/waitresses: 27.12%
- Roofers: 26.85%
- Maids and housekeeping cleaners: 26.38%
The only surprise with entertainers is that they’re not higher on the list. How many people could be truly comfortable with all the kisses and bed time other people get from their movie actor spouses, even if it is just for the camera?
But roofers? Why are they on the list? Do they come home too tired to contribute to the relationship?
Whatever the explanations are, at least you know you may have to work extra hard on that relationship if you or your significant other is a roofer, telemarketer or porter.
And Now the Good News
Some professions seem to be good for a relationship, or at least not bad for it.
If you want to make a relationship last, look for someone in one of these professions with low divorce rates. Marry an agricultural engineer, for example. Their divorce rate is an amazingly low 1.78%.
Here are some other professions to consider, along with their divorce rates:
- Nuclear engineers: 7.29%
- Podiatrists: 6.81%
- Sales engineers: 6.61%
- Clergy: 5.61%
- Transit and railroad police: 5.26%
- Optometrists: 4.01%
Your Turn: Do you think your job has a negative or positive effect on your relationship?
Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).
