Posts Tagged ‘work’

Many couples meet at work and then decide to get married. However, one member of the couple will usually quit and start a different job somewhere else so they don’t have to be together 24/7. Having time apart and working on dissimilar projects is generally the approach most couples take because it’s too stressful to live with someone and work with them.

Almost half of marriages end in divorce so why take the risk of working with your spouse? If things go bad it will not only affect your private life but also your career and even your livelihood. Just look at Frank and Jamie McCourt the estranged couple that ran the Los Angeles Dodgers. Owner Frank McCourt and his wife ran the team but last month the husband let go of his wife. She went to court and tried to file a suit to get her job back but lost.

This is just one example of the problems a couple may face while sharing a house and the office. Working with each another can be particularly stressful. You are adding additional stress besides the normal relationship because you’re also including finances and your career. An additional couple that worked together has been divorced and remarried.

They have faced many negative experiences. They have had managers that tried to make them rival against each other, they have also been the subject of terrible rumors,, and even faced accusations of partiality. They even have arguments about coworkers at work because one spouse doesn’t like some of the friends of the husband and vice versa.

Although there are lots of challenges, the couple has learned to work together but still struggles with everyday issues at work and home. Another problem is that it’s risky to have both spouses working for one company. With this rocky economy a company may face difficulty and be forced to dismiss workers. If that happens, one or both of you might lose your job.

Although scores of marriages have ended in divorce when spouses worked together many have grown stronger. One couple listed the secret to successfully working with your spouse. Each spouse should have responsibility over different aspects. There doesn’t need to be a power struggle so don’t have one spouse in an administrative position over the other.

By having individual assignments and responsibilities they can still work together and love each other. Another recommendation is not to take work home. It can be easy to talk about work out of the office but you have to keep the relationship going and the romance alive so forget about work.

The take home message of the story is that working together can be strenuous on your relationship and may put so much pressure that you end up divorcing. Yet, many couples effectively work together. You will never know if you can work with your spouse until you try it. Nevertheless if you have a steady job that you enjoy don’t quit it in order to work with your spouse. For the reason that if you go to work together and it fails you may have a hard time locating another job, so it will affect your finances and your relationship.

Diane Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Utah. She likes to write about the news, politics, college degrees, Continuing Education, and the college experience.