Commuter couples’ life satisfaction in Korea

The prevalence of ‘commuter couples’ (a type of dual-earner couple in which the spouses live separately) is on the rise. The literature on this form of marital arrangement is, however, limited in that most studies are based on in-depth interviews of individuals with high-level employment in developed countries. Using cross-sectional data from the Social Survey (2012 and 2014) in Korea, this study examined (1) the relation of this newly emerging form of living arrangement with life satisfaction and (2) differences between wives and husbands in commuter couples in life satisfaction in Korea. Commuter couples in this study reported lower life satisfaction compared to typical dual-earner couples. In addition, in commuter couples, the husbands reported lower levels of life satisfaction compared to their wives. It appears that without immediate spousal support, both wives and husbands in commuter couples suffer from the burden of multiple social roles. Additionally, gender should be considered when examining the implications of this living arrangement for subjective well-being.