Main earners
So an increasing number of women are the main breadwinners in their families? According to a survey, this is part of an ongoing trend. As I am currently at home on maternity leave, I sat through a plethora of daytime telly yesterday debating whether this was a good or a bad thing.
I am the main breadwinner in my family. I don't see it as a problem. Both my partner and I work flexibly around the kids - you have to if you have four! - and we both do pick-ups from school, etc. My partner does not feel emasculated and he helps out a lot at home, for instance, the evening is spent passing the baby back and forth so one or other of us has time to cook/spend time with the other children, etc.
This means neither of us gets too stressed doing one thing and neither of us feels huge and seething resentment against the other for not pulling their weight in any particular sphere. Ok, I admit that I do occasionally have a go at my partner for spending a lot of his time on Facebook, the Depeche Mode fan site, watching Masterchef, etc while he tells me I do too much [possibly because he is unaware of the amount of things that actually have to be done...].
The fact is that women as main breadwinners is a phenomenon that is here to stay. The majority of graduates are women, the world of work is changing and demographics require that more of us stay in the workplace to help support the growing number of elderly people. Moreover, men are increasingly rejecting the male breadwinner, working all hours model. They want to spend more time with their children.
The changes in women working are driven by many factors. It's just that social expectations around gender seem to move slower than what is actually happening on the ground. Give it time and everyone will adapt.
Now don't get me started on the other survey out yesterday - women without children thinking women with children are slacking off and using their children as an "excuse" to leave early...
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