My boyfriend makes less money than I do and I’m ok with that. Making more money allows me to have more choices, so why would I artifically limit my choices of mates based on this criteria. Most men wouldn’t do that… so why should I? I want someone who is both ambitious and yet not a workaholic. Who leads an active life and isn’t relying on me to always come up with fun stuff to do. Funny, eccentric, and confident. Could I have found a person that meets all of those criteria and makes more money? Perhaps, but love isn’t rational and I’m happy with him ;)
He does pretty well in the bonus qualities category as well. He likes to cook, is handy around the house, sensitive to my moods (even when they are transparent to others) and good at pulling me out of a funk. Before we moved in together he kept his place tidy and in order, managed a house full of roommates, etc.
Turns out that I am increasingly in good company. Nearly 40% of mothers are primary breadwinners in the US (and likely more if unmarried women were included in the study) and 30% of women in the UK are the primary breadwinners in their relationship.
Some decidedly un-scientific statics
When I mentioned to my boyfriend that I was writing a post on being the breadwinner he told me the guys at work joke about their ’sugar mamas’. Of the 7 guys in his group only 1 makes more than his significant other and 2 are single. That leaves 4 out of 5 couples where the woman is the breadwinner in the relationship.
My name is Kelly Seiler. I'm an electrical engineer working in the defense industry. I realized that there was an undercurrent of sexism present at work... no one person or attitude seemed to be the culprit. I've decided to learn more about feminism to help me better combat sexism without damaging my reputation. I consider myself an undercover feminist. I'm a feminist, but I avoid pointing things out directly.
An excellent feminist primer! At 118 pages this one is a quick read, but still jam packed with information. It will change your perspective about what feminism is really about compared to the mass media portrayal.
While not a strictly feminist read, this books has lots of good tips to consider in an office environment.
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Men more likely to cheat on women with bigger paychecks, study says
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/16/income.men.women.cheating/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Typical sensationalist journalism. Big headline, but at the bottom of the article:
“Munsch points out that in the overall study, very few couples surveyed had experienced cheating during the six-year period studied. Only an average of 3.8 percent of male partners and 1.4 percent of female partners cheated during that period.”
I love the way they use Jesse James cheating on Sandra Bullock as an example. Jesse James was going to cheat no matter who he was with, lol.
This phenomenon is enhanced in this economy, where most of the job loss has been in male-dominated jobs.
Joshua and I probably make about the same money, IF I can get full time work – he has all the job security and benefits. Then again, I have all the degrees, advanced and otherwise :-P But alas, we are both in education, I in the humanities no less, the profession one does not go into to make money.
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[...] For women who make more money, they may not want to limit themselves to what their partner can afford if they split 50/50. Men may not want to pay when they’re getting dragged to Mamma Mia. [...]