Abstract
This study focused on commuter marriage. Specifically, it determined the
prevalence of commuter marriage, its benefits and challenges among
married members of staff of Universities in South-East Nigeria. Cross-
sectional survey design was used for the study. Population was made up of
25,334 married members of staff of universities in South-East, Nigeria.
Stratified random sample of 2310 was drawn from the population.
Questionnaire was used for data collection. Internal consistency of the
instrument was 0.82. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviation,
frequencies and percentages. Findings show that there was a high prevalence
(41.5%) of commuter marriage in universities in South-East, Nigeria. Seven
benefits of commuter marriage were identified. These include building trust
and commitment, feelings of independence and personal fulfillment; with
mean (X) values of 3.09, 2.96 and 2.60 respectively. Nine challenges in
commuter marriage include, financial burden of maintaining two homes,
impatience and trust issues as well as difficulties in maintaining job and life
with mean (X) values of 3.45, 3.09 and 2.71 respectively. Commuter marriage
has variables that can affect family stability such as finances and sexual
intimacy; therefore, couples should be aware of the benefits and challenges
of commuter marriage and be mentally prepared before they decide to
embark on commuter marriage.