What Happens When Your Partner Loses A Job?

Nothing can place a burden on relationships faster than financial stress, and job loss is the number one contributor to money anxieties at home. When job loss occurs, it is essential to plan ahead, set clear guidelines and be open with a partner. New employment will come, but the damage to a relationship that can occur in the meantime can last.

Here are some tips for dealing with a partner’s job loss to assure you ride out the financial storm as best as possible:

Ask our partner to keep the spending down

• There are seven necessities in budgeting that need to be looked after during daily living: Food, Clothing, Housing, Transport & Communication, Education & Stationery, Health Care and Recreation. These include everything from a roof over your heads to recreation and other expenses.
  Ask your partner to cut down on these and other costs while he is seeking new employment to assure that your finances do not go into the red. This may include walking to close destinations or carpooling to assist your partner in getting to distant locations for seeking employment. Also, assist your partner in some alternative suggestions for earning at least a small income while searching for new permanent employment.
• When it comes to recreational activities, it is important to continue actively engaging in leisure time for both your relationships’ sake and to assist your partner in keeping spirits up after a job loss has devastated emotionally. However, it is still possible to reduce costs of entertainment and often find cheap or free things to do in the area. Living in Singapore on a budget can include activities such as walking the enclaves of Little India, Chinatown or the Arab Quarter for a weekend night out. It’s both free and enjoyable to do.

Good Financial Communication

• Joint finances and bank accounts are another aspect of financial life between partners that can cause financial stress if proper communication is not kept. There are pros and cons to sharing a joint bank account, and the decisions involved in partner finances is a personal one. But if you already share a joint account with a partner who has become unemployed, it is important to communicate that you are not on a tight budget while they find work and all withdrawals have to be discussed in advance to avoid arguments. We recommend that you set up clear rules and boundaries between you and your partner.

Understand that while your partner is in this state of financial and employment crisis, you may be required to take the bulk of bills on yourself, and this can add stress to your working life as an individual. Keep in mind that your partner is struggling alongside you and may be dealing with negative emotions that have risen from the loss of work.

Be patient, keep good communication and your relationship will make it through this patch of roughness intact. If situations cannot be worked out alone, try partner counselling or employ a mutual friend for assistance.

Manage your relationships better.