Couples are better able to cope with shocks: Research

Toronto: Confirming that marital status plays a significant role in our life, Canadian scientists have said couples cope with financial crunch and illness better than individuals.

According to a study by University of British Columbia, spouses help in dealing with health, financial and other shocks. After examining data from the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, researchers Giovanni Gallipoli and Laura Turner found that in marriages "main-earners" (husbands) tend to transfer income and compensate "second-earners" (wives) while they in turn, provide conditional time and care in periods of need. "The insurance the second-earner provides to the main-earner in the marital contract serves as an important mechanism to help smooth out household income in periods of health and disability shocks to the main-earner, as a way to support the future earning potential of the husbands," they said. The authors also found the relative value of marriage changes in different ways for men and women as they age. Men who receive shocks early in life may lose the insurance offered by marriage by being sorted out of possible matches in the early stages, the study said, adding marriages become more stable with the passing of time and uncertainty is resolved. PTI