Money, Marriage & Divorce: The Narratives Created About Finances Surrounding Marriage and Divorce

We all grow up with ideas about marriage. The quintessential children's novel starts with "once upon a time" and ends with a "happily ever after"—typically, a wedding. While statistically, most of us will walk down the aisle at some point in our lives, the story doesn't end there. Unlike the fairytales, life doesn't always end with the "happily ever after"; In fact, "happily ever after" has become less and less likely since the early 1900's. My thesis uses the writing template of long form journalism to present my research on marriage, divorce and money. In my research I interviewed 10 divorced individuals about the narratives they created around their marriage and divorce. When telling me their stories of love and loss, finances played a role for every person I interviewed at most every stage of the relationship. These conversations brought up some interesting theories that could be further explored. The narratives presented by my interlocutors also brought light to how conflicting work in the field can be made sense of.