Interesting bit here:

Divorce is not an equal-opportunity specter, however. Middle-class couples were less spooked by it — and by marriage — than low-income couples. For poorer women who tended to feel that marriage was a trap, many reported fearing that a legal union would lead to extra work and responsibilities on their part, without any additional benefits. “Middle-class respondents disproportionately asserted that marriage meant commitment, something they viewed as a positive feature of the institution,” the authors write. “When working-class women referenced commitment, on the other hand, they did not view it in a particularly positive light.”

For these female partners, the benefits to marriage were slimmer — they would get an extra person to look after but not an extra provider. Since working-class women are often the main breadwinners, they were more likely to worry that marriages would be harder and costly to exit. So they preferred to regard their relationship as impermanent. And although working-class men have seen their real earnings drop over the years, studies have shown that they still hold rigid views on what men’s and women’s roles are in the home.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/22/is-fear-of-divorce-keeping-people-from-getting-married/#ixzz1hQs9IZp7

And here silly old me thought this was about middle aged american women IN thailand.

Merry xmas nonetheless!

How bout I come into the footie forum and make comments about how unrelated it all is to Thailand???

Happy holidays to you dear

I thought the American working class had been abolished. It certainly has by politicians, such as Obama in his recent speech: for them, it seems that all Americans are "middle class" except for the underclass and the rich. Politics overrides reality, because politicians are afraid that people might be insulted to be called "working class".

interesting article...and raises some questions: are working class women more likely to enter into a casual cohabitation than middle class women?...if 'working class' means more traditional then one would think not and that marriage would be preferred...

I had a relationship with a middle class woman, an accountant that was desperate to get married...she made more dough than I did as an engineer and was fabulously independent and it was hard for me to understand her desperation...it didn't work out...

never have been attracted to working class types; different wavelength altogether...even their physical beauty or sexyness is coarsened somehow...that being said my thai wife never finished matayom but has been successful in keeping her large immediate family together with resourcefulness and etc which is admirable...