{"id":92353,"date":"2026-04-15T11:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/?p=92353"},"modified":"2026-04-15T11:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:38:08","slug":"what-happens-when-your-wife-earns-more-than-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bricktowntom.com\/blog\/04\/what-happens-when-your-wife-earns-more-than-you.html","title":{"rendered":"What Happens When Your Wife Earns More Than You?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that 4 out of 10 wives earn more than their husbands? I had no idea. I thought our family was just a small minority. However, female breadwinners are a growing trend and all of us will have to adjust to the new reality*. Changes can be difficult especially when it comes to traditional gender roles like being the primary income earner of the family. This isn’t a big issue for Mrs. RB40 and I, but it seems many couples are struggling with this adjustment. Unfortunately, researchers have shown that marriages can turn unhappy when the wife earns more than the husband. Divorce rates increase, men are more likely to cheat, and women feel more stressed out (increased consumption of anti-anxiety and sleeping pills). That<\/span> sounds pretty bad…<\/p>\n

I\u2019m wondering if the media is magnifying the negative side of this trend. Mrs. RB40 is making more money than me now and our family is doing just fine. I made more than Mrs. RB40 for the first 15 years, but she\u2019s making about twice as much as I do since I quit my engineering career<\/a>. Is the income disparity destroying our relationship? No, we are doing better than ever. But let\u2019s go through some issues other families are struggling with. <\/span><\/p>\n

*This was pre-Covid. Unfortunately, many female breadwinners left the workforce since then. The data is not in yet, but it’ll probably be a while before we get back to this level. This post was originally written in 2015. Updated in 2022.<\/p>\n

Housework<\/span><\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start with an easy one. We all know that women spend more time on housework than men, almost an hour more per day. This gap actually grows when the woman is the primary earner. That isn’t fair. Why does the wife have to do more chores when she makes more money? Researchers don\u2019t know why this happens, but some people think women are trying to help the husband feel better about being outearned. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mrs. RB40 definitely does more housework than I do. Whenever she goes on a business trip, our home quickly devolves into a messy bachelor pad. The toys invade all walkable space, the dishes pile up in the sink until we run out of clean plates, and the hampers overflow with dirty clothes. We clean up as much as we can the day before she comes home. Of course, we miss a few things, but that shows her we need her, right? \"\ud83d\ude42\" Guys just have a higher tolerance for messiness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, I think I do more chores now than when I was working full time. Let\u2019s see. <\/span><\/p>\n