Love and the Recession

Okay, it looks like the subject is quickly becoming a fad. Half the articles on the recession that I’ve found have dealt with how it’s ruining people’s love lives. Starting with the US and Europe, Reuters India (wth?) reports what everyone already knows: relationships are under strain and couples expect to work longer to pay off debts and to retire properly. The survey being reported also showed that Europeans are more savvy about saving. Certain cultural differences are also elucidated – Americans see cars as status symbols while Mediterraneans view eating fine cuisine as one of life’s essentials.

Moving on to Japan. Remember my last few posts about Japan’s social issues? It’s apparently gone beyond corporate suicides, female cross-dressing hosts serenading other women, hikikomori, and male bras. A new phenomenon called “herbivore men” is rising. Perhaps this is actually in parallel to the trend of laddism in the UK and male delinquency in the US. In this state, men abandon traditional expectations of high achievement, ambition, and wealth in favour of slacking off and giving up on competing.

All this adds significantly more stress on a relationship, which is already on life support if the latest findings from Australia are to be believed. The misery also knows no class boundaries. Even trophy wives are learning to cut back.