All’s not fair in love and work: financial distress, work-family spillover, and relationship satisfaction in newly-married couples

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using Social Exchange Theory (SET) and an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), we examine direct and indirect associations among financial distress, work-family spillover, and relationship satisfaction. Data come from wave 3 of the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) study: a dyadic, nationally-representative sample of U.S. newlyweds (N = 1,044 opposite-sex, dual-earner couples). We found wives’ and husbands’ financial distress were negatively associated with both their own relationship satisfaction, while only wives’ financial distress was associated with their spouse’s relationship satisfaction. Wives’ and husbands’ work-family spillover were both negatively associated with their own relationship satisfaction. Wives’ work-family spillover was negatively associated with their husbands’ relationship satisfaction, while husbands’ work-family spillover was not significantly associated with their wives’ relationship satisfaction. Wives’ work-family spillover partially mediated the negative associations between their own financial distress and relationship satisfaction as well as their husbands’ relationship satisfaction. In addition, husbands’ work-family spillover partially mediated the negative association between husbands’ financial distress and their own relationship satisfaction, but not the association between husbands’ financial distress and wives’ relationship satisfaction. This study highlights the importance of considering the work-family interface and using dyadic data to understand the nuanced connection between financial distress and relationship satisfaction.