The ONS yesterday reported that people with long commutes to work tend to earn more than those who have short commutes:

Median hourly earnings by travel time, London and Rest of UK, October-December 2009

What they did not also highlight was the impact that long commutes have on personal relationships. Just last week, a Swedish researcher published preliminary findings from a study of more than two million Swedes who were married or cohabiting in 2000 showing that those who take at least 45 minutes to get to work face a 40 percent higher risk of separating from their partners than do couples with shorter journeys to work. More than one in eight British workers travel at least 45 minutes each way to work:

Percentage of workers by home-to-work travel time, October–December 2009, UK

Umeå University's Erika Sandow warns that 'We don't know what long-distance commuting will lead to in the long run and what price we'll have to pay for economic growth,' noting that the first years of long-distance commuting are the most trying for a relationship. Previous studies have shown that commuting is also correlated with greater risk of obesity, high cholesterol, neck pain, stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, poor diet, and inadequate exercise.

Once again, it seems, there's more to life than money!

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