Griffin Johnston, 4th period, The 2008 recession saved marriages

            In an article on CNN.com, Melanie Hicken describes how the 2008 recession saved marriages. Because of the greater vigilance towards ones credit/financial status due to the recession, couples saw that communicating with their spouses about money was imperative in the shaky economic times. Spouses became more willing to disclose more financial with each other, and this increased communication helped the couple’s financial status. Before 2008, only 35 percent of couples discussed their credit score as compared to after 2008, where 60% of couples divulged their credit score. After the recession couples stated that they were likely to discuss purchases that were more than (around) $256 as opposed to couples before the recession neglecting to discuss purchases of more than $1,000. By more effectively stabilizing the couple’s financial status, a married couple is less likely to undergo the discrepancies that usually provoke separation.

            It is human nature to look upon an event such as the 2008 economic downturn and solely focus on the negative aspects that came out of it. This trait is there because it helped humans (and, undoubtedly, countless other animals) survive (and continues today: a nomadic hunter-gatherer family would remember that when their friend sat under a tree by the river, they were swarmed by bees; they would not remember that they had previously had a great night’s sleep. While it is certainly helpful to remember the negative side of things so one can learn something from it, by constantly searching for the good in everything, one can go through life with a much more optimistic, positive attitude. The ability to look for the good that comes out of things regardless of whether it has glaring negative aspects, will enable a person to enjoy life more.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/02/pf/marriage-money/index.html?iid=SF_E_River