Marriage

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Marriage Family WellnessIs It Corporate
Americas Business?
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Agenda

• Executive Summary
• The Current Situation
• The Opportunity
• The Value Proposition
• Your Companys Role

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Executive Summary

• Investing in marriage and family wellness
  improves a companys overall financial health,
  while ignoring these relational opportunities can
  decrease a companys profitability.
• Employees in failing relationships cost employers
  money.
• Employees in successful relationships increase
  profits for their employers.
• ROI can be in the range of 1.50 - 6.85 for
  every 1.00 spent by employers on Marriage
  Family Wellness programs.
• Companies wanting to increase their profitability
  in a global, highly competitive marketplace will
  do well to realize and operate in the framework
  that business takes place in the boardroom and
  the family room.
• Marriage and family wellness should be an
  economically-driven priority for all companies
  today.

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Agenda

• Executive Summary
• The Current Situation
• The Opportunity
• The Value Proposition
• Your Companys Role

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The Current Situation

• Business marriage have similar goalsthey both
  seek to create positive relationships that will
  make their partners happy.
• There is an interdependence of marriage and
  business, especially when marital problems lead
  to divorce in the marketplace.
• Nation-wide trucking company owner laments that
  many new long-haul drivers must be hired annually
  due to divorce.
• Midwestern pharmaceutical sales group CEO states
  she loses 2 years of real productivity every time
  one of her employees divorces.
• Large regional HR consulting firm principal sees
  problems with employees going through divorce in
  terms of lost productivitywhich equates to lost
  profits.

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The Current Situation

• 2.3 million marriages a year
• Average age of men for first marriage 27
• Average age of women for first marriage 25
• 1.2 million divorces a year
• Most people who divorce get remarried
• Average remarriage age of men 36
• Average remarriage age of women 33
• 90 of Americans marry at least once
• The cohabitation rate has risen 1200 over the
  past 4 decades
• Trends indicate that couples who cohabitate prior
  to marriage actually have lower relationship
  satisfaction and increased risk of divorce (Waite
  Gallagher, 2000).
• Source US Bureau of the Census, 2003

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Agenda

• Executive Summary
• Current Situation
• The Opportunity
• The Value Proposition
• Your Companys Role

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The Opportunity

• Generally, research shows that married people
  enjoy the following benefits
• Better Health
• Longer Lives
• More Satisfying Sex
• Over half (54) of married males and 43 of
  married females are extremely satisfied with
  their sexual relationship.
• The frequency of sex is also higher in married
  couples than cohabitating and dating persons.
• More Wealth
• Median household net worth is 132,000 compared
  to 35,000 for singles, 42,275 for widowed
  individuals and 33,670 for divorced individuals.
• Children who do better emotionally and
  academically
• Source Olson Olson, 2000 Waite Gallagher,
  2001, The Case for Marriage Why
• Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better
  Off Financially

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Agenda

• Executive Summary
• Current Situation
• The Opportunity
• The Value Proposition
• Your Companys Role

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The Value PropositionCost of Divorce Marital
Problems

• Two Major Conclusions from current research
• Happily married employees increase profitability.
• Unhappily married employees decrease
  profitability.
• Financial Impact Summary
• There are about 1.2 million couples divorcing
  every year.
• Each divorce costs society about 25,000-30,000
  (Schramm, 2006).
• Stress-related issues cost Corporate America 300
  billion annually (Velasquez-Manoff, 2005).
• Divorce annually costs taxpayers an estimated 30
  billion in federal and state expenditures
  (Schramm, 2006).
• Overall Company Impact Areas
• Failing relationships cost companies money.
• Marital problems often cause decreased
  productivity.
• Divorce and marriage are not one-time events
• Divorcing employees often have serious health
  concerns
• Stress is a two-way street between work and home
• Source Olson Olson, 2000 Waite Gallagher,
  2001, The Case for Marriage Why
• Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better
  Off Financially

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Positive Benefits of Marriage for a Company

• Happily married couples are more loyal and stable
  employees.
• Marriage Premium Earn more, Reduced job
  turnover, Lower rates of absenteeism, More
  dependable and motivated
• Source Gallagher, 2002 Waite Gallagher, 2000
  Corporate Research Council, 2002 Curtis, 2006.
• Happily married employees are healthier.
• Immune system functioning and ability to handle
  stress is improved for happily married couples
  (Waite Gallagher, 2000)
• Prevention programs are a great investment.
• Federal state governments spend 1 to promote
  healthy marriages and relationships for every
  1,000 spent to deal with the effects of family
  disintegration (Fagan Rector, 2000)
• ROI Studies have attributed up to 6.85 for every
  1.00 invested in employee wellness programs
  (Tangri, 2003).
• Happily married couples increase company profits.
• More productive work environments result in
  healthier, more productive workers with fewer
  liabilities.

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Cost of Divorce ExampleCompany Example with 10
Divorces during a year
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Agenda

• Executive Summary
• Current Situation
• The Opportunity
• The Value Proposition
• Your Companys Role

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What can your company do to promote marriage
family wellness?

• Connect Practice with Policy
• Know your companys relational starting point via
  valid relationship assessment tools
• Offer marriage and relationship education to
  increase overall relational wellness
• Offer relational coaching through your existing
  EAP structure.
• Provide access to professional services for
  intervention.
• Consider implementing the following specific
  relationship-friendly practices
• Consider offering occasional spousal travel
  vouchers.
• Encourage the formation of employee focus groups
  that can propose programs and policies that are
  marriage and relationship-friendly.
• Consider creative work arrangements for certain
  employees.

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Marriage Family WellnessThe Corporate So
What

• Business is driven by Profit.
• The facts show that employees in healthy
  marriages can increase profit, while employees in
  failing relationships decrease profit.
• The chasm between the boardroom and the family
  room is closing.
• Relationships are incredibly influenced for
  better or for worse by the policies and practices
  found within the corporate environment.
• It is economically smart to make marriage and
  divorce your businessthe research and results
  show the positive economic impact it will yield
  in your company and organization.

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Appendix
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Marriage Family Wellness Corporate Americas
Business? Research Report Background

• Published 2006 by the Marriage CoMission in
  conjunction with Life Innovations, Inc.
• Report Obtain a free copy of the Research
  Report via the web www.marriagecomission.com
• Authors Matthew D. Turvey, Psy.D. and David H.
  Olson, Ph.D.
• Thesis Strong marriages are the foundation of
  strong families, which are vital to developing
  healthy communities and a caring society. Does
  Corporate America have a valid interest in the
  strength of marriages and families in America?
  Are employees with healthy marriages and
  fulfilling family lives more productive at work?
  Are companies that invest in the relational
  wellness of their employees realizing a
  significant return on investment?

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Marriage Family WellnessIs It Corporate
Americas Business?