Love or Money: Feuding Couples Ride Out Economy
By JONATHAN LLOYD
Updated 9:56 AM EDT, Wed, Jul 29, 2009
A loveless marriage is painful, but a penniless one might be worse.
Carmen Wong Ulrich, host of CNBC's "On The Money," wrote that divorce rates are down nearly 20 percent in some states.
"It's not because everyone's made peace across the rotten-marriage divide, but because many couples can't afford to divorce," she wrote.
Shrinking retirement funds and layoff threats might motivate couples to stick it out during tough times, especially when it comes to mortgage payments.
Some private investigators note another issue for unhappily married couples: adultery is expensive.
"When a depressed economy hits, infidelity goes down," Phil White, executive director of the Licensed Private Detectives Association of Massachusetts, told the Boston Herald.
Spouses who suspect a partner of cheating pay White's firm and others to dig up the dirt. White told the newspaper that requests are down 50 percent from February 2008.
But a weak economy doesn't mean the end of adultery. Some cash-strapped cheaters opt for a bargain rendezvous.
"They just can’t afford the no-tell motel anymore,” White told the Herald. "We followed a couple into a movie theater in Brockton the other day. They were all over each other like a new suit of clothes."
CNBC.com: On The Money
BostonHerald.com: Adultery Pays Price In Slow Economy
First Published: Feb 13, 2009 6:25 PM EDT on NBC Los Angeles
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
