Money Doesn't Buy Happiness,but It Helps: Marital Satisfaction,Psychological Distress,and Demographic Differences Between Low- and Middle-Income Clinic Couples

The characteristics of 51 very low-income and 61 middle-income couples receiving services from a university-based community clinic offering a sliding fee scale were compared on a number of demographic variables. Group differences were significant with the exception of the number of children and wife's ethnicity. Middle-income couples were better educated, more likely to be full-time employed, less likely to be from a minority group, older with longer relationships, and more likely to present with family problems. Middle-income couples also had significantly lower scores on the General Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory and higher scores on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The relevance of these differences for clinicians is discussed.