From demanding shift rotas to low wages and backbreaking work, there are all kinds of reasons that led many restaurant workers to change careers after the pandemic. Another factor, and one that is rarely discussed, could be the pressure on relationships that can lead to divorce. Indeed, new research reveals that bartenders have the highest divorce rate by individual occupation in the United States, followed closely by waitstaff and dishwashers.
Even without working in the restaurant industry, we all know that this professional sector can put strain on family life. In the world of high-end gastronomy, many chefs tell of their endless hours and how they sacrifice Christmases, birthdays and other family moments to keep the kitchen running. A work-life reality that evidently does nothing to help attract and maintain the sufficient workforce that the restaurant industry needs to continue to serve its customers.
This has rarely been confirmed through studies or analyses. However, research from the American online lending marketplace, LendingTree, reveals that the world of food service and preparation constitutes one of the three employment sectors with the highest divorce rates, following military workers and healthcare support staff. A list of 100 occupations with the largest number of employees was compiled for the study. Respondents' family situation over the last 12 months was taken into account.
Looking at each occupation individually, bartenders have the highest divorce rate, at 4.34%. Waitstaff come next, at 3.40%. LendingTree points out that this is more than double the national divorce rate in the United States (1.6%)!
The study goes even further, reporting that the divorce rate is higher among women than men in both professional occupations (4.58% for female bartenders and 3.59% for female waitstaff).
In the restaurant industry, service professionals are not the only ones who seem to be affected. Dishwashers also fall among the occupations with higher divorce rates (2.64%), not to mention fast-food and counter workers (2.47%), but also cooks (2.08%) and even chefs (1.84%).
