Working Woman = Stronger Marriage?
Posted by Laurie
In yesterday’s Sunday Styles section of the New York Times, Tara Parker-Pope wrote an article called “She Works. They’re Happy.” about a new study from the Pew Research Center showing that divorce rates are lower and couples are happier when… get this… the wife is the primary breadwinner and the husband does a fair share of the child care and housework. While it’s been traditionally thought that female economic independence is a leading cause of divorce, this research turns that idea on its head.
“Wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, up from 7 percent in 1970.”
“Over all, the evidence shows that the shifts within marriages — men taking on more housework and women earning more outside the home — have had a positive effect, contributing to lower divorce rates and happier unions.”
And this increased happiness occurs even when the husband does less than 50% of the housework and childcare. As long as it’s more than older generations of men did, she’s somewhat pleased.
“Even among dual-earning couples, women still do about two-thirds of the housework, on average, according to the University of Wisconsin National Survey of Families and Households. But men do contribute far more than they used to. Studies show that since the 1960s, men’s contributions to housework have doubled, while the amount of time spent caring for children has tripled.”
Who is the primary breadwinner in your house? Do you split housework and/or childcare? Who does more? Does it surprise you that couples are less likely to divorce when the woman works or does this make perfect sense?
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 at 9:17 am and is filed under Balance & Fairness, Roles & Responsibilities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
You know, this might be drum beating and skewed statistics but let’s assume there’s some kind of basis for it, that perhaps your blog post might be correct. Instead of correlating:
women + job = happiness for men
Let’s ask the question, “why were men less happy with the arrangement before?”
Could it be that women pushed men out of their children’s lives with their overriding maternal instinct? Could it also be that social programs, support groups and governmental organizations are slanted to help women in the workplace rather than men? Could it also be that men never get social recognition for helping around the house or with the kids? Ever hear someone talk about “super dads”. Nope. Only “Super moms”. How about when 22% of the women being depressed because staying at home taking care of their children didn’t help them feel like they had purpose. That depression resulted in conflict in the marriage.
Let me ask you something else too. How many good role models for men versus good roles models for women are portrayed in media and advertising? How many sitcoms and dramas depict a strong, morally astute, caring, kind but decisive man with leadership qualities? I can’t think of one but when I ask about the same qualities for women, I can think of several in the prime time lineup.
Until “we” as a whole can make a place for men and women in this world you can keep your suggestive articles to yourselves.
Frankly, I am glad the divorce rate is over 50%. I personally think it shows how one sided our society has become. It’s all about women, their rights, their success as moms, success in their careers and their happiness.
HEY! There’s another gender over here guys…
Where’s my comment?