The Marriage Proposal Better Come With a Job
Getting married is, more often than not, every girls’ dream. The minute a woman falls in love she starts shopping for the perfect wedding dress and planning the big event. But a new survey reveals if he pops the question, the potential husband better have a job.
Seventy-five percent of women would not marry someone who was unemployed, according to a recent survey by YourTango and ForbesWoman.
However, the same survey reveals that although having a job is important, more than 91 percent of single women said they would marry for love over money.
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“It is mocking that women place more weight on adore than money, nonetheless they won’t marry if they or their intensity swain is unemployed,” said Meghan Casserly, of ForbesWoman that consulted with YourTango for the survey.
Even more telling, she said, is that 77 percent of women surveyed trust they can have it all. A fulfilling attribute, family life, and a successful career.
“The career is unequivocally holding the No. 1 position for operative women,” Casserly said. “It’s flattering mocking that this series of women trust they can have everything. How? When?”
There are many reasons why women will get married. It is one, if not, the most important decisions in anyone's life. Marriage can and will have an effect on a woman’s entire life. These effects on women’s lives can be positive or negative.
Relationship experts say that nowadays jobs come and go like the wind so comparing a man’s financial insecurity with a lifetime of marital drama is on target.
Casserly said a job can make or break the longevity of a relationship and the results of the survey demonstrate just what an important role careers play in romance.
But, according to Professor Bob Montgomery, head of psychology at Bond University, there is no doubt that marriage favors the well-being of men over women.
"Marriage is good for men and not so good for women," he said.
"And the more a man buys into masculine stereotypes, the worse it will be for his wife, because this kind of relationship puts a huge amount of strain on women. As she's the one feeling the stress, it's not surprising that she's the one to say 'enough'."
The survey also showed that 40 percent of women in a relationship said their job responsibilities were most likely to keep them up at night, while job responsibilities and a "love life" tied as the two factors most likely to keep single women awake.
There are nearly 32 percent of women in a relationship that make more money than their partner, according to the survey.
“The idea that women dislike being financially dependent on men is a myth, with more choosing to “marry up” now than did so in the 1940s, according to Dr. Catherine Hakim from the London School of Economics.
It should be noted that the average age for first time marriage has risen dramatically over the last few decades, with men now waiting until they are 28 and women until 26. The Northeast and the Midwest have the largest populations of unmarried couples.
"With the recent unemployment rate up to 9.1 percent, joblessness is an increasingly pervasive issue-especially for women as they consider the fiscal and emotional stability of their romantic future," said Andrea Miller, founder and CEO, YourTango.
"From money woes to resentment, joblessness can create great strain on relationships. Before women enter into a lifetime commitment, they want to feel secure in what their partner can bring to the table."
Other findings from the survey:
Single Women Vs Married Women
Married women are more likely than singles to give up their career if their partner asked them to:
- 59 percent of married women say they would give up their career to run the household, compared with only 19 percent of single women.
- 69 percent of married women would give up their career to support a partner's career, compared with 59 percent of single women.
- 58 percent of married women would give up their career to take care of the children, compared with 53 percent of single women.
