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If you're single, you're 50% more likely to lose your job, according to a study published Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This is no different from most recessions, but neither the stat nor the trend loses its shock value with each downturn. Now that the unemployment rate has edged higher, to 9.8% last month, the plight of singles is worsening.
Single employment fell 4.8% from December 2007 through June, with the married folks losing their jobs at a rate of only 3.1%. In August, the single jobless rate reached 13.5%, while those encumbered with spouses fared much better at 6.3%.
There are a number of reasons for this. Married people tend to have higher education levels, according to the study. Also, the hitched sometimes will take lower paying jobs after being laid off in order to keep some income flowing into the household. Or, when one spouse loses a gig, the other may pick one up, just to keep cash coming into the home -- balancing it out.
Pretty grim for the unmarried, right? Well, it gets even worse. Singles lose out on job growth (not just existing jobs), as they tend to be hired at a faster rate when the economy is on the rise -- at a rate of 4% relative to the married rate of 2.2%. In this opportunity cost-adjusted world, the recession has cost singles employment at a rate of 8.7%, compared to 5.3% for the married.
The message, apparently, has made it to Baghdad, where the number of upscale weddings being conducted has skyrocketed. And, their economic climate is worse than ours. So, let's take a cue from the Iraqis, right?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-03-2009 @ 6:04AM
Richard Ballard said...
A social (different) viewpoint: Misery loves good companionship, but miserable companionship is a burden and divorce is costly. IMO during poor economic times there is value in avoiding burdensome social entanglements. Richard Ballard www.myspace.com/rjballard