California bartenders, flight attendants and others who work in professions that involve either nightlife or a lot of travel might be more likely to get a divorce than people whose jobs do not have these elements. FlowingData released information from the 2015 American Community Survey indicating that professions with the lowest rates of divorce include actuaries, scientists and software developers.
Those professions offer more stable hours than the professions with higher divorce rates, but they also tend to offer higher incomes. Data also indicated correlation between the likelihood that a child would become ill, divorce and income.
Another factor in a lower divorce rate seems to be professions that are popular in rural areas. People in forestry, farming, fishing or military careers have lower divorce rates. The national average in 2015 was about 35 percent. An occupation like physician was significantly lower, with a divorce rate of just over 20 percent while the divorce rate for gaming managers was above 50 percent.
Parents’ professions might affect how child custody is decided. If a parent works an irregular schedule, the other parent may get primary physical custody since it could be difficult for the parent with the irregular schedule to juggle it with child care. Another option might be for parents to work out a joint custody arrangement that takes the irregular schedule of one parent into account. Usually, the noncustodial parent must pay support to the custodial parent. This is determined based on income, health care costs and other factors and may be changed if circumstances change. For example, a parent might have a change in income and need to pay less support. This needs to go through the court system if there is a formal support agreement in place, or the parent will continue to owe the same amount.
