+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Here's why people with this kind of job are most likely to marry each other

Sep 29, 2015, 00:43 IST

Shutterstock

Working around the clock to till the fields or raise livestock leaves very little time to also sow the seeds of love.

Advertisement

But as it turns out, farmers and agricultural workers have figured out a relationship loophole: marrying their own kind.

As The Washington Post recently detailed, Priceonomics, a company that helps companies crawl and structure data from the web, analyzed US Census data to see what professions are most likely to marry each other.

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry has the highest percentage of people marrying within the same industry at 25%, and among the top ten occupations more prone to mixing business with pleasure, two are in agriculture.

Agricultural workers, who help farmers maintain crops and livestock, marry others with the same job 27% of the time - and agricultural managers, such as farmers and ranchers, do so 20% of the time.

Advertisement

Mike Nudelman/Business Insider

Dan Kopf, author of the Priceonomics analysis, notes the high rate of agriculture workers and managers comingling may be attributed to the less diverse mix of occupations available to people in rural communities compared to urban ones.

"Each occupation has a distinct way of life that goes with it," McNulty says. "They all involve long hours, at least during certain seasons of the year, that may result in an inability to participate in the mainstream social activities of one's peers."

This may make it difficult for people in these occupations to meet others outside of work.

"It may feel more workable to marry someone who shares the same kind of schedule, rather than having to constantly explain the demands of one's position to a partner or spouse who works in a different profession," McNulty says. "The fact that partners hold the same type of position may mean that they can relate to each other's compassion for work or the challenges one another face."

While there are lots of benefits for spouses who share the same way of life, McNulty cautions anyone looking for a spouse with the same job about the pitfalls.

Advertisement

"Even when they do have the same job, they still will have individual differences, which will result in those all too common perpetual problems that come with being married," he explains. "Partners must learn to manage such problems over time, through understanding and compromise and putting their relationship first. If partners enter into marriage believing their shared way of life makes them exempt from conflict, they will be in for a big surprise."

It's worth noting that the Census Bureau tracks 500 professions, and data on same-sex marriages was not available for this analysis.

NOW WATCH: Here's The Mistake Employees Make Early In Their Career That Hurts Their Productivity

Please enable Javascript to watch this video
Next Article