Learned that firefighters have a 4x higher divorce rate and I had to sit with that for a bit

I was scrolling through some stats from the National Fire Protection Association last night and stumbled on this fact. Apparently the divorce rate for firefighters is around 40% compared to like 10-15% for the general population. It hit me because I just came home from a 24 hour shift and my girlfriend was already asleep on the couch waiting up for me. Anyone else in a relationship with a shift worker find ways to make it work?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota4151mo ago

Yeah that stat is rough. But here's something nobody talks about - the shift schedule itself can actually help if you lean into it right. My buddy's a cop and him and his wife have this system where they treat his days off like hardcore date days. No chores no errands just full attention on each other. The unpredictability forces you to be intentional instead of falling into that boring routine most couples get stuck in.

ray_martinez821mo ago

Man that's a smart way to handle it @dakota415. My brother works nights at the plant and he told me the same thing about making those rare days off count more than a normal 9-5 couple ever could. It's like the schedule forces you to stop taking each other for granted because you don't have time to coast.