Women That Earn Big Bucks

The NBC Today Show reported on recent research this morning that said that 25 percent of American families have wives that earn more than their husbands. This trend is only going to increase since women have recently been graduating from college in greater numbers than men. Although more men age 25 and up have college degrees than women of the same age, the US Census Bureau says “that 33 percent of young women, ages 25 to 34, have completed college, which exceeds the 29 percent of their male counterparts who have done so. Young women, 25 to 34, also have higher high school completion rates than young men: 89 percent versus 85 percent.” Higher education translates directly into higher paychecks.

This really is nothing new as experts have been reporting this growing trend for a number of years now. Anne E. Winkler, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy Administration, University of Missouri-St. Louis, reported in the Monthly Labor Review Online, in April, 1998, that the percent of wives earning more than their husbands was between 20 and 25 percent, increasing from 16 percent in 1981 to 23 percent in 1996. Even popular magazines like Redbook are picking up on the subject, and psychotherapists are starting to report on the stresses that they’re seeing in these marriages, particularly when at least one partner is traditional in his or her outlook.

Dr. Allan N. Schwartz, for example, says, “The male ego is strong enough to tolerate wives who can bring increased wealth and success to the family, if they can give up the old fashioned and outmoded thinking about the roles of men and women in society. Perhaps domestic violence would decrease if everyone accepted and valued the gifts that women can bring to their marriages, families, and the work place. What needs to change is the paternalistic view that men must wield power over their wives and children. Successful marriages are based on an equal sharing of responsibility and decision-making, along with mutual respect and good communication. Marriage is not about control but about mutuality and joint effort. It does not have to do with ‘me and her’ but with ‘us.’”

These wonderful new changes modern wives and husbands are gladly making in their marriages must just drive traditional heirarchicalists crazy. But the paternalistic view that the good doctor mentions above is not going to go away anytime soon unless conservative church leaders stop spewing that sort of invective and pull themselves out of the 1950’s.