Happiness Difference Increases Couples’ Risk of Separation

The probability that a couple splits up is higher if there is a happiness difference between both partners. The risk of separation particularly increases if the woman is less content with life than the man. These are the findings of a recent study by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim.

To measure a couple’s contentment with life and the happiness differences, the study assesses German, British and Australian households. For a period of almost 25 years, the survey participants assessed their happiness on a scale of 0 to 10. Ten points reflect that the person is totally happy; zero points on the other hand reflect that the person is not content at all. By means of this scale, it is possible to measure a couple’s happiness. In Germany, data from 253,000 participants were assessed. The data came from persons between 18 and 65 living with their partner in the same household. Both married and cohabiting couples were considered in the survey.

In all three countries, it can be noticed that the risk of separation is higher for unhappy couples than for happy ones. This is measured by the couples’ contentment, i.e. the happiness of one partner plus the happiness of the other). The result is not really surprising. Moreover, the ZEW study indicates that the probability of separation increases the more the partners’ happiness differs from each other. This is also the case if couples have the same result when adding up their happiness. For example, if the man’s happiness is at three points, and the woman’s at five points on the scale, the couple has an overall contentment of eight points. The happiness difference is two points. Another couple (man at two, woman at six points on the scale) also has a contentment of eight points. However, the second couple is more likely to separate than the first couple because the happiness difference is higher.

The study also shows that the effect of happiness is asymmetric. The risk of separation is especially high if the woman is less content than the man. Different data from Australia used for the study indicates that a majority of women files for divorce and that these women tend to be unhappier than their soon-to-be ex-husbands.

The ZEW calculations indicate that the relation between the difference of contentment and the risk of separation is important. If couples have the same result when adding up their happiness points, the risk of separation increases by 0.5 percent for couples if the woman is unhappier than the man. This may seem little but has to be seen in relation to the risk of separation in general. Every year, around two percent of couples participating in the survey and living in one household separated. If the woman is unhappier than the man, the couples’ risk of separation is about 25 percent higher. The effect is higher for cohabiting couples than for married couples.

For further information please contact

Dr. Holger Stichnoth, Phone: +49 (0)621/1235-362, E-mail: stichnoth@zew.de