Romantic partners' meanings of risk during COVID-19: the role of socioeconomic factors

Socioeconomic status (SES) creates disparities in exposure to health and economic risk, but further research is needed to determine how socioeconomic factors influence (1) what risk means to people in romantic relationships, and (2) how couples' co-constructed meanings of risk affect their relationship trajectory. The experiences of young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a pertinent case to study this. During such a critical and uncertain life course stage, the pandemic's fallout exacerbated existing SES inequality, and forced couples to navigate the risk of pandemic infection alongside the risk of financial loss. This paper draws from in-depth, individual interviews with romantic partners ages 18-33 (N = 28, 14 couples) in the United States, to analyse the role of two socioeconomic factors (financial resources and occupational advantages) on their co-construction of risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some participants described how their job conditions allowed them to largely avert risk of COVID-19 infection, and the financial resources they had pre-pandemic provided a safety net for them to take opportunistic risks for future financial gain. As a result, they were able to negotiate next steps to deepen their bond. Meanwhile, partners with less of these resources had to negotiate how they would simply be able to get by financially, physically, and in their relationship. Based on these findings, we argue that co-constructed meanings are another mechanism by which SES creates cumulative (dis)advantage, both in couples' material reality, and in the trajectory of their relationship