What they fail to realise is that these assignments sometimes carry the heavy price of severe stress to individuals and families. The overworked husband, burdened with extensive travel, has missed another school concert or the child's birthday. The wife has to handle another family crisis alone. The resentful child hates the move and the new school. Friendships are cut short in this transient society.
Loneliness sets in, frustration mounts, and anger deepens.
Many counsellors said that marital problems probably did exist before the move, and few will argue that the issues accompanying this type of lifestyle could sometimes serve as a catalyst for marital breakdown. Many expat wives operate more as a single parent, and there's tension when the men come home. The other issue is that people start to lead very separate, parallel lives. When the expat couple first arrives, their support system is having only each other. Then the husband jumps into the work support structure and the other party is left to flounder or hook up with clubs, organisations or volunteer work.