Commuter couples’ life satisfaction in Korea

Abstract

The prevalence of ‘commuter couples’ (a type of dual-earner couple in which the spouses live separately) is on the rise. The literature on this form of marital arrangement is, however, limited in that most studies are based on in-depth interviews of individuals with high-level employment in developed countries. Using cross-sectional data from the Social Survey (2012 and 2014) in Korea, this study examined (1) the relation of this newly emerging form of living arrangement with life satisfaction and (2) differences between wives and husbands in commuter couples in life satisfaction in Korea. Commuter couples in this study reported lower life satisfaction compared to typical dual-earner couples. In addition, in commuter couples, the husbands reported lower levels of life satisfaction compared to their wives. It appears that without immediate spousal support, both wives and husbands in commuter couples suffer from the burden of multiple social roles. Additionally, gender should be considered when examining the implications of this living arrangement for subjective well-being.

Women’s work–family conflict and its consequences in commuter marriages: The moderating role of spouses’ family commitment in a dyad analysis

“… Falconier et al (2015) also mentioned that the association between stress and relationship outcomes decreased if the partner provided support. Spousal support in CMs is believed to help partners cope with stress ( Lee, 2018a ). In other words, the compensation resources, such as the support from one’s spouse, reduce the loss of resources, thereby alleviating WFC.…”

“…Commuter marriages (CMs), also known as dual-career commuter marriages/family/couples ( Gross, 1980 ; Bunker et al, 1992 ; Jackson et al, 2000 ; Rhodes, 2002 ), are marriages between couples living in different residences at least three nights a week ( Gerstel and Gross, 1984 ) or more than 4 days a week ( Rabe, 2001 ) because their workplaces are geographically far from each other. Given the demands of the changing business environment and the fulfillment of career expectations for both men and women, CMs are detectable in many countries such as the United States ( McBride and Bergen, 2014 ), Germany ( Reuschke, 2010 ), Israel ( Landesman and Seward, 2013 ), the Netherlands ( van der Klis and Karsten, 2009 ), Korea ( Lee, 2018a ), and Hong Kong ( Lau et al, 2012 ). There are ever more CMs in Taiwan.…”

“…However, this study focused solely on CMs with stay-at-home spouses (wives) and commuters (husbands), which is generally in line with Asian societies and previous studies (c.f. Lee, 2018a ). Second, this study was concerned with the overlooked group of stay-at-home spouses (wives) to enrich the current research in the CMs field.…”

“…Second, this study was concerned with the overlooked group of stay-at-home spouses (wives) to enrich the current research in the CMs field. Previous research on CMs emphasized the view of commuters including individualism and interdependence ( Lindemann, 2017 ), gender roles ( Lindemann, 2018 ), family division ( van der Klis and Karsten, 2009 ), and the differences in marriage satisfaction between CMs and cohabiting families ( Chrishianie et al, 2018 ; Lee, 2018a ). We explored the relationship between WFC and the job/family/marriage satisfaction of the stay-at-home spouses using the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM).…”

A Perspective of Husband and Wife Roles in Long-Distance Marriage

“…Both are also able to make mutual agreements on matters that can be done together when one of them does not carry out their roles properly. Some married couples have to live separately because their partners work in another city or far from home, or even rarely come home and leave home very often (Y. S. Lee, 2018). This situation makes all activities usually carried out and assigned together with the partners shall be completed by either of them.…”