Impact of Long Distance Commuting on Israel and United States Couples' Satisfaction

An important shift has occurred in employment related mobility. Long distance commuting has become an option to permanent migration. Details on voluntary long distance time-extended commuting participants’ practices and consequences for partner relationships were gathered from 2010 to 2012. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from a non-probability convenience sample of 434 respondents in Israel and 130 in United States (U. S.). The static-group comparison research design dictated gathering comparable respondents from both commuting and non-commuting couples to better assess the impact of commuting. Deficit and resilience theoretical perspectives guided assessments of commuting’s impact on couple satisfaction. Commuters versus non-commuters characteristics, commuting patterns, and initial assessments of impact of commuting on couples’ satisfaction (Landesman & Seward, Forthcoming) provided the basis for further analyses and findings. Commuting had the greatest negative impact upon couples’ satisfaction among women in Israel. Among the indexes constructed, respondents in non-commuting couples in Israel reported significantly higher satisfaction with communication, division of labor, and involvement with children when compared to respondents in commuting couples. Among U. S. respondents only involvement with children index follows this pattern. Israel and U. S. women plus U. S. men in non-commuting couples had significantly higher satisfaction index scores than those in commuting couples. Frequency of commutes during the year in the U. S. had a negative impact on overall couple satisfaction. Satisfaction with communication and division of labor indexes explained about a third of the variation in the satisfaction index in Israel and U. S. samples. In Israel the time spent in leisure activities index was also a significant predictor. Data limitations identify avenues for further research.

Landesman, J. & Seward, R. R. (Forthcoming). Long Distance Commuting and Couple Satisfaction in Israel and United States: An Exploratory Study. Special Issue: Family and Migration. Journal of Comparative Family Studies. 45, TBA