Couples living apart: An examination of their perceived benefits and challenges as a result of living apart

Marriage has been conventionally considered a relationship between a man and a woman in which the husband is the breadwinner and the wife is the nurturer of the home. The traditional, or at least idealized, American family in all but very recent years thus consisted of a husband whose primary identification and duties were to his job and a wife who managed the home and family full-time and who, if among the middle and upper classes, did some volunteer work (Pepitone-Rockwell, 1980, p. 113). Other alternatives to the conventional marriage appear to have come about through changes in societal conditions. Such conditions may have developed because of such factors as the move toward industrialization, availability of higher education for women, and changes in attitudes of women