How Many Women Earn More Than Their Husbands

¶ … Mona

Dear Mona: How Many Women Earn More Than Their Husbands?

In accordance to Mona Chalabi, thirty-eight percent of wives in the United States earn more than their husbands. This is a significant increase, considering approximately three decades ago, only twenty-five percent of women in marriages were the main source of income in their households (Mona, 2015). However, these statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are not comprehensive as they only take into consideration the instances where the female is the only earning party within the household. The inclusion of marriages where both the man and women contribute in the household, statistics indicate that only twenty-nine percent of women have higher earnings compared to their husbands (Mona, 2015).

In addition, the article indicates that according to research study, with instances where the wife was the higher earner in the household, the likelihoods that the couple would report being in a happy relationship, declined by 6%. In addition, marriages in which the wife earned more were six percent more likely to have talked about the prospect of separation in the past year (Mona, 2015).

One other interesting point portrayed in the article is that the greater the gap between the incomes, the increase in the housework gap. According to a survey undertaken by the American Time Use, wives who feel threatened undertake a greater proportion of housework in order to appease the uneasiness that the husband feels regarding the circumstance (Mona, 2015).

Analysis

In accordance to Mona (2015), statistics indicate that there is a great possibility for a man to cheat on his partner, if he is more financially reliant on her. In addition, it has been observed that men who are entirely reliant on their wives or girlfriends are five times more probable to cheat in comparison to men who earn the equivalent sum as their partners. The main reason for this statistic is that the men feel emasculated by a female that has a higher earning than them. Basically, men normally feel that they ought to comply with the manner in which the society portrays the definition of a man (Martin, 2015).

In accordance to Levingston (2013), typically, men are more competitive compared to women. There, it is conceivable that men would react in a self-negative manner to any individual's success. It causes men to have lower self-esteem as they consider themselves a failure. Whereas it may be sensible for a competitive man to feel threatened and defenseless by being outmatched by a woman, the men feel that the success of their wives or partners, are their own failure and disappointment. From a manly standpoint, men are programmed to succeed and therefore they feel that they ought to succeed more than women.