Study Explains Money Problems in Marriages

June 5 -- — Fighting over money and family assets has ruined many marriages, and a new study offers one insight into why finances can be such a contentious issue. When they look at the same data, many husbands and wives disagree significantly over the extent of the family's income, wealth and debts.

Husbands typically think the family income and wealth are greater than their wives think they are. And wives think the family debt is greater than their husbands think it is.

And both husbands and wives tend to think their spouses earn less than they say they do.

The bottom line, according to Ohio State University research scientist Jay Zagorsky, is many husbands and wives see their personal financial world quite differently. Zagorsky is an economist in the university's Center for Human Resource Research, and thus has access to a remarkable study of 33,000 persons covering a period of almost 40 years.

Revamped Resource

The National Longitudinal Surveys, funded primarily by the U.S. Bureau of Labor, began in the 1960s when researchers started fanning out across the country to ask willing participants all sorts of personal questions about everything from finances to health. In most cases, husbands and wives were interviewed separately. The participants were followed over the years, and they were asked questions that evolved as the participants themselves aged, resulting literally in a warehouse full of data.

Over the years researchers have tapped into that treasure trove and pulled out nuggets about how people generally adapt to a changing world, but until recently it was really difficult to fine-tune the data to the point of addressing specific, narrow questions.

But today the nine-track computer tapes that required a team of researchers, and a generous government grant, to pull out pertinent information are history. Zagorsky says a beefed-up personal computer allowed him to do in a few hours what would have taken months just a few years ago. The study was published in the May issue of The Journal of Socio-Economics.