The Problem Was Never Women's Paychecks
A new study challenges one of the most common explanations for why heterosexual relationships are more likely to end when the woman becomes the primary breadwinner.
For years, one explanation has dominated conversations about why heterosexual couples are more likely to struggle when women become the primary breadwinner.
The theory goes like this: When women earn more than their male partners, they become less financially dependent, less committed to the relationship and therefore more likely to leave.
It makes sense, in a way. But according to new research, it’s not quite as neat a story as it seems. When researchers at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed data from more than half a million different-sex couples across 29 high-income countries between 2004 and 2020, they found little evidence that women become less committed to their relationships once they achieve greater financial independence. Indeed, women who out-earn their partner report similar levels of relationship commitment as women who make less than their partner.
Instead, the findings pointed toward a different explanation altogether: work-family stressors. The researchers found that the pressures of balancing a demanding — and therefore well-paid — career with family life may be more of a factor in the demise of these marriages than just the size of the paycheck.
These pressures may become particularly acute when women continue to work full-time after becoming mothers while domestic responsibilities remain unchanged — and unevenly shared.
In many ways, these findings mirror a broader story about gender equality. While much of the world has become more welcoming of women in traditionally male professional spaces, expectations around unpaid labor in the home have been glacially slow to evolve.
Maybe it’s time to start paying attention to that gender gap.
