Interesting Article - Female Breadwinners and how it Impacts Relationships

[Sha]

Here''s an interesting article on the growing trend of female breadwinners.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23413243/?GT1=43001


What do you think? Do you think men still feel threatened by the woman making more? Or is it something they embrace?

 

[LitigatorChick]

I make about double what DH makes, and that gap will only widen with time. He has no issue with it at all. He is quite happy to have his "sugar-momma" bring home the bacon.

The reality is that with despite the income burden shifting to women, we still bear the burden at home. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the mom to look after the house and the kids. Men just aren''t hardwired to this task, in my experience.

 

[Aloros]

I think, as with a lot of things, that this is something that depends on the individual guy.

My FI and I make about the same amount of money. We do an equal amount of housework. When one of us is more busy, the other one picks up the slack. I enjoy cooking a little more than my FI does, but he''s always in the kitchen asking what he can do to help (and he''s better at chopping stuff, so I utilize him there). And my FI does a little more cleaning than I do. It about evens out. We parent his son (my stepson-to-be!) equally. If one of us gets tired or frustrated or just needs some quiet time, the other person steps in.

We both have projects on the side. It looks like mine will pan out first. Plus, we are both looking forward to promotions within the next year, and mine will be the more substantial one monetarily. For a while, at least, I will most likely be making more money.

FI doesn''t care except to think that it''s great! What''s mine is his, and what''s his is mine, so any increase of income on either side is a reason for us to celebrate.

 

[Sha]

Yeah, even though women might be making more, it doesn''t seem to change the perception that housework/cleaning/childcare is the woman''s job as well.

My salary is more than DH''s, but he sometimes makes more with the part-time gigs he does. He''s completely cool with the fact that I often make more, and the fact that we have more disposable income because of that. He doesnt'' understand why some men are intimidated by intelligent, successful women, because he sees it as a plus in a relationship more than anything else.

My ex was completely different. He had MAJOR self-esteem issues and was definitely intimidated by my education and success. In fact, shortly after I graduated from Univ, he said that he would prefer if I stayed at home and let him work, because that would make him feel manly.

I was like..."Uhhh....No way!". I was thinking, "why should I NOT work just to make you feel a man?" Furthermore, I was the one with the Univ degree and he only had a College certificate. So it just didn''t make sense at all. I realized then he needed for me to be ''less'' than him, so that he could feell good about himself. Sad.

Anyway, back to DH.... like you, Aloros..I think we balance out each other. He does 99% of the cooking, and a good share of the cleaning and other housework. And I never have to tell him to do anything either... he just does what needs to be done. That''s why I love him soo....

 

[Sparkster]

To the posters above, I think it''s great that you earn more than your partners and that there are no issues from your partners. More so, there are no issues from you about this. In some cases (not yours) women are resentful that they are the major breadwinners. To me it sounds like you all have a ''healthy'' attitidue to being the major breadwinners.