HOUSTON — For people under 30, this may sound like a weird question.
Not too long ago, outearning your husband, or even just making as much as your partner could spell trouble for your marriage.
Sociologists found that couples married in the 60s and 70s were 70% more likely to get divorced if the wife was the breadwinner. It looks like society is starting to change because the same research found in couples married in the 90s has only a 4% higher divorce rate if the women earned more.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the reason for the change may be because society’s attitude is shifting.
Men are no longer expected to be the sole breadwinner. Women have made big strides in education and business in the last few decades. That means the number of women outearning their partners has tripled in the last 50 years, going from 5% to 16%.
It is also not economically feasible for many couples to rely on one income anymore, especially if they have children. Many need two incomes just to survive.
The cost to have a baby in daycare ranges from $8,000 in more rural areas to around $17,000 in larger cities. While women are making strides there is still a gender pay gap. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned.