Studies show that high stress and low pay are associated with marriage killing jobs while workers in less stressful better paid occupations rarely get divorced.
Jobs with the highest divorce rates include casino worker, massage therapist, bartender, professional athlete or entertainer, probation officer, engineer, veterinary professional, military enlisted, logistician, and enlisted military supervisor. Careers where marriages fail tend to be in declining industries with high levels of stress, low pay, and lots of temptations.
1. Casino Worker
Most casinos stay open 24/7/365 and people in these jobs work irregular hours and holidays. They are around alcohol, gambling, and entertainment day and night, which can place extra stress on any relationship. Add in the fact that casino workers experience are paid a mere $27,000 on average, and you have a recipe for marriage disaster.
2. Massage Therapist
The main risk for massage therapists is from a jealous spouse or significant other who wonders what they did all day, what kinds of clients they met, and how it felt to touch them intimately. The green-eyed monster can lurk anywhere, but he’s especially likely to reside in the home of a massage therapist because of their close and personal contact with clients. Add in an average salary of around $40,000 and you have a career that can destroy the strongest marriage.
3. Bartender
Bartenders serve alcohol all evening and are constantly around people drinking and enjoying themselves. Also, they have to give their customers a good experience by being friendly and available at all times, which can produce lots of stress. Bartenders rarely know when they will be home because they must wait until all the customers leave before they can clean up and close the bar. Since they generally work for tips, their income can fluctuate dramatically and is rarely high.
4. Professional Athlete or Entertainer
Celebrity divorces among professional athletes and entertainers fill the pages of tabloids and create lots of juicy gossip. These occupations place lots of strain on marriages due to the travel, sexual attention from groupies, and stress to perform at a high level. The only positive for these workers is their pay, which can run into the millions. But, that can be a double-edged sword and can lead to affairs and divorce.
5. Probation Officers
Combining a heavy work load, lots of paperwork, criminals for clients, and low pay makes the job of a probation officer a marriage killer. And, when probation officers bring their work home with them, that adds to the stress on their marriages and creates an incubator for divorce.
6. Engineers
Engineering is a highly technical job that requires lots of detailed knowledge to succeed and can occupy the person’s mind all the time. If the engineer has a partner who wants time together, this can lead to divorce. The good news is that engineers are in high demand and the pay is good.
7. Veterinary Professionals
You might think getting to play with cuddly puppies all day would be a dream job, but studies show that veterinary professionals experience high levels of mental illness, work-related stress, and increased risk of suicide. Secondary traumatization, known as compassion fatigue, is emotionally draining and can be triggered by caring for traumatized animals. Think mild PTSD for the common man and you will understand why being a veterinary professional is tough on marriages.
8. Enlisted Military
It should come as no surprise that being an enlisted person in the military places a lot of strain on marriages. Frequent relocations, low pay, long deployments to combat zones, and problems adjusting to civilian life combine to test the best marriages. Add in the risk of disability or death in combat and you create a high risk of divorce. And, the divorce rates for enlisted women are double the rate for men in the military.
9. Logisticians
Supply chain professionals are in high demand in many industries and the pay is good at around $75,000 annually. However, logisticians experience high levels of job stress and heavy workloads. And, when things go wrong, guess who gets blamed? These workers have the second highest divorce rate of any profession.
10. Enlisted Military Supervisors
The enlisted men and women who supervise military operations in war zones have the highest divorce rates of any occupation studied to date. They endure long deployments in dangerous areas overseas and shoulder high levels of responsibility for the lives of their troops. They deserve our thanks and respect for the tough jobs they perform and our support when their marriages fail.
