Pertinent African accounts of ambivalence and benefits in commuter marriages

Abstract

The article attempts to unpack the ambivalence and benefits of commuter marriages. The study applied a qualitative paradigm, as well as a qualitative approach to investigate 17 participants between the ages of 30 to 52 (13 women and 4 men), of various occupations including bankers, civil/public servants, businessmen and women, lecturers, lawyers, teachers, managers of private organisations politicians, sales representatives, and medical doctors. All of them were married, had children and engaged in commuter marriages, but with the men being commuters while the women remained in the primary residence. The participants had an average of two children each. Data was analyzed thematically. Findings established ambivalence in commuter marriages; and underscored the benefits of commuter marriages, such as improved quality of life, opportunity to focus on work, personal goals and offering respite for leisure, and lessened women’s bouts of stress to prepare meal for their husbands.