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Is chocolate, flowers, jewelry or a trip in the works for Valentines Day? Whatever you are planning on gifting to your lover, you may want to take a look at your credit score because it could predict your relationship future, according to a new study, finding that Americans with non-prime scores are 45% more likely to be divorced.
Divorce is not the only issue non-prime Americans have to deal with – stress, feeling out of control, and trouble saving are problems as well. This new data was rolled out by Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class, a research institution, which looks at how being in the non-prime category affects everyday lives. The link between divorce and a non-prime rating raised an interesting question – what came first the having a non-prime rating or getting divorced.
"This latest research raises an interesting question about cause and effect. Are people getting divorced because stressful finances put pressure on relationships, or are people becoming non-prime because divorce has negative financial consequences?" said Jonathan Walker, executive director of Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class. "Regardless of the cause, it's clear that financial pressures are greater in non prime couples, and that people experiencing financial difficulties are more likely to be nonprime."
Money woes, stressing out, job loss and more
If you have a non-prime credit score and are married, and you find yourself wrestling with feeling out of control when it comes to the events in your life, you are not alone. According to the data one in five non-prime Americans with a partner feel the same way. While over 50% say that every two or three months they they run short on money – and for some it's more often than that.
What about savings? Here too there are issues, four out of five have a hard times saving money. While they are also two times more likely to have a credit card balance from month to month.
The study also found that when it comes to employment non-prime Americans are twice as likely to have suffered a job loss in the last five years. What about wages? Here too there are issues – they are 1.4 times more likely to have had the number of hours they work reduced or had their pay cut.
Worry, worry, worry
Non-prime Americans worry more than other couples, with the data suggesting that they are three times more likely to have anxiety over their expenses every month – and are 1.5 times more likely to get stressed out about their finances.
The Elevate Center for the New Middle Class study is comprised of data generated by two research projects. The first one is a survey where they spoke with 610 non-prime Americans, along with 607 Americans who have prime credit scores. This project took place from December 6 to 14, 2016. The other research project was a qualitative discussion taking place online with 41 people which took place on January 25, 2017.
