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| Long-distance life: More couples considering commuter marriages in times of financial hardship |
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Posted on Mar, 25, 2009
As the economy continues to stumble and new jobs become harder to find, it’s likely that more couples will find themselves stuck in commuter marriages, or at least considering the possibility as a financial lifeline, experts said.
Reginald Richardson, vice president of the Family Institute at Northwestern University, said he has seen the number of married couples who are struggling to maintain two households increase by about 30 percent during the last few years. The reasons vary, he said, but now include limited job openings.
“People are much more open to sending their resumes out of state,” said Richardson, a marriage counselor. “In this sort of job market, people are going to take care of their families. This may be what they’re forced to do.”
Among this group are Mark and Kristen DeBlock, who thought they would be back under the same roof two months ago. Now they would consider themselves lucky if both are living in their North Aurora home when their first baby is born in five months.
“We weren’t expecting it to be this long,” Kristen DeBlock said.
Mark DeBlock, a surgical sales specialist, accepted a job with heavy travel requirements, thinking it would act as a springboard to a better position in the Chicago area in nine to 12 months.
If the company was still expanding its sales force — the way it had for years — such a position almost certainly would have opened up, he said. But this year the medical device company reduced positions, leaving DeBlock, who is based in Phoenix, stuck. He and his wife see each other every weekend.
Brian and Autumn Schwartze joined the ranks of commuter spouses when the 2009 season was canceled for the Chicago Rush arena football team. Schwartze’s services as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator were no longer needed.
Owing more on his South Elgin home than he could probably get for it in this market, the father of three thought he might have to give up football to support his family, Autumn Schwartze said.
Luckily, he was offered a director of football operations position, but with a catch. The job was at Iowa State University in Ames.
That left Autumn Schwartze alone to care for their children and search for potential renters for the better part of the last two months. The couple has seen each other rarely since he took the Iowa State job.
But at least the Schwartzes are certain a dramatic adjustment in their living arrangements is on the way.
Kassie Patton and David Porreca aren’t so fortunate. There is no indication their long-distance relationship will get closer even after they get married this summer, Patton said.
She is principal at Elm Middle School in Elmwood Park and lives in Oak Park. Her fiance has taught journalism for 14 years at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School in Urbana.
The current hiring freeze would make it nearly impossible for him to transfer to the University of Illinois at Chicago. So for the time being, the commute continues. The couple see each other about every weekend.
“The plan would be that he would move here, but there’s no telling when that will happen,” she said. “Oak Park will be his home base, but he’ll have a satellite in central Illinois.”
Source: http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/mar/22/long-distance-life-more-couples-considering-in/
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