Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Female Breadwinning Across the Social Sciences

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

  • 84 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter offers a review of the substantial literature on female breadwinning in mixed-gender partnerships contributed by economists and sociologists over the past half-century. Both theoretical (conceptual) and empirical (data-based) contributions are reviewed. Theorists have interrogated what might explain changes in the frequency of women outearning their male partners, and the reasons why such changes might be positive, neutral, or problematic. Empiricists have examined what household and individual characteristics are associated with female breadwinning, and what happens to individuals and their partnerships when it occurs. Because the female breadwinning phenomenon has attracted attention as a research target mainly in developed countries, most of what is reviewed in this chapter draws on data from developed Western populations. Large literatures on related topics, such as male-female wage or education gaps, the labor force participation decisions of women and men, sole motherhood, and the evolution of gender-specific social norms, are covered in this chapter only insofar as they link directly to the phenomenon of female breadwinning. This synthesis reveals that female breadwinning in mixed-gender partnerships has been found to be associated in many countries with negative outcomes, including a higher risk of partnership breakdown. However, recent work indicates that this association may be waning in strength as social norms about how individuals contribute to their households and allocate their time become less strongly tied to gender. This gradual change may slowly unlock the net benefits from female breadwinning for households and society that are implied by standard economic theory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aizer A (2010) The gender wage gap and domestic violence. Am Econ Rev 100(4):1847–1859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson KL (1997) Gender, status, and domestic violence: an integration of feminist and family violence approaches. J Marriage Fam 59(3):655–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson J (2016) Breadwinner mothers by race/ethnicity and state. Institute for women’s policy researchan American think tank located in Washington, DC. https://iwpr.org/about/

  • Atkinson MP, Greenstein TN, Lang MM (2005) For women, breadwinning can be dangerous: gendered resource theory and wife abuse. J Marriage Fam 67:1137–1148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker GS (1981) A treatise on the family. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker GS, Landes EM, Michael RT (1977) An economic analysis of marital instability. J Polit Econ 85(6J):1141–1187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand M, Kamenica E, Pan J (2015) Gender identity and relative income within households. Q J Econ 130:571–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blom N, Hewitt B (2020). Becoming a female-breadwinner household in australia: changes in relationship satisfaction. J Marriage and Family 82(4):1340–1357. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12653

  • Blood RO Jr, Wolfe DM (1960) Husbands and wives: the dynamics of married living. Free Press, Glencoe

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesley N (2017) What does it mean to be a “breadwinner” mother? J Fam Issues 38(18):2594–2619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke LP (2006) “Doing” gender in context: household bargaining and the risk of divorce in Germany and the United States. Am J Sociol 112(2):442–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham M (2008) Changing attitudes toward the male breadwinner, female homemaker family model: influences of women’s employment and education over the lifecourse. Soc Forces 87(1):299–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drago R, Black D, Wooden M (2005) Female breadwinner families: their existence, persistence and sources. J Sociol 41(4):343–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson S (2019) Backlash: undesirable effects of female economic empowerment. Working papers 12, Lund University Department of Economics. Revised 27 Jan 2020

    Google Scholar 

  • Festinger (1957) A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Foster G, Stratton LS (2021) Does female breadwinning make partnerships less healthy or less stable? J Popul Econ 34:63–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox GL, Benson ML, DeMaris AA, Van Wyk J (2002) Economic distress and family violence: testing family stress and resources theories. J Marriage Fam 64:793–807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaunt R (2013) Breadwinning moms, caregiving dads: double standard in social judgments of gender norm violators. J Fam Issues 34(1):3–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill DS, Matthews B (1995) Changes in the breadwinner role: Punjabi families in transition. J Contemp Fam Stud 26(2):255–263

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckert DA, Nowak TC, Snyder KA (1998) The impact of husbands’ and wives’ relative earnings on martial dissolution. J Marriage Fam 60(3):690–703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoang LA, Yeoh BSA (2011) Breadwinning wives and “left-behind” husbands: men and masculinities in the Vietnamese transnational family. Gend Soc 25(6):717–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hood JC (1986) The provider role: its meaning and measurement. J Marriage Fam 48(2):349–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hwang J (2016) Housewife, “gold miss”, and equal: the evolution of educated women’s role in Asia and the U.S. J Popul Econ 29:529–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jalovaara M (2003) The joint effects of marriage partners’ socioeconomic positions on the risk of divorce. Demography 40(1):67–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janssens A (1997) The rise and decline of the male breadwinner family? An overview of the debate. Int Rev Soc Hist 42:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jurczyk K, Jentsch B, Sailer J, Schier M (2019) Female-breadwinner families in Germany: new gender roles? J Fam Issues 40(13):1731–1754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalmijn M, Loeve A, Manting D (2007) Income dynamics in couples and the dissolution of marriage and cohabitation. Demography 44(1):159–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanji S, Schober P (2014) Are couples with young children more likely to split up when the mother is the main or an equal earner? Sociology 48(1):38–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Killewald A (2016) Money, work, and marital stability: assessing change in the gendered determinants of divorce. Am Sociol Rev 81(4):696–719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klesment M, Van Bavel J (2015) The reversal of the gender gap in education and female breadwinners in Europe. Families and societies working paper #26. http://www.familiesandsocieties.eu/

  • Kowalewska H, Vitali A (2020) Breadwinning or on the breadline? Female breadwinners’ economic characteristics across 20 welfare states. J Eur Soc Pol 31(2):125–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg S, Pollak RA (1996) Bargaining and distribution in marriage. J Econ Perspect 10(4):139–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCloskey LA (1996) Socioeconomic and coercive power within the family. Gend Soc 10(4):449–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melzer SA (2002) Gender, work, and intimate violence: Men’s occupational violence spillover and compensatory violence. J Marriage Fam 64:820–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munsch CL (2015) Her support, his support: money, masculinity, and marital infidelity. Am Sociol Rev 80(3):469–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers K, Demantas I (2016) Breadwinning and bread-losing: exploring opportunities to rework manhood. Sociol Compass 10:1119–1130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nock SL (1995) Commitment and dependency in marriage. J Marriage Fam 57(2):503–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nock SL (2001) The marriages of equally dependent spouses. J Fam Issues 22(6):755–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ono H (1998) Husbands’ and wives’ resources and marital dissolution. J Marriage Fam 60(3):674–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheimer VK (1997) Women’s employment and the gain to marriage: the specialization and trading model. Am Rev Sociol 23:431–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers SJ (2004) Dollars, dependency, and divorce: four perspectives on the role of wives’ income. J Marriage Fam 66:59–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruggles S (2015) Patriarchy, power, and pay: the transformation of American families, 1800–2015. Demography 52:1797–1823

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayer LC, Bianchi SM (2000) Women’s economic independence and the probability of divorce. J Fam Issues 21(7):906–943

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz CR, Gonalons-Pons P (2016) Trends in relative earnings and marital dissolution: are wives who outearn their husbands still more likely to divorce? RSF: the russell sage foundation. J Health Soc Sci 2(4): 218–236. https://doi.org/10.7758/rsf.2016.2.4.08

  • Teachman J (2010) Wives’ economic resources and risk of divorce. J Fam Issues 31(10):1305–1323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torabi S (2014) When she makes more: 10 rules for breadwinning women. Hudson Street Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitali A, Kowalewska H (2020) Female-breadwinner families on the breadline. Population Europe. https://population-europe.eu/research/policy-insights/female-breadwinner-families-breadline. Accessed 12 October 2021

  • Winslow S (2011) Martial conflict and the duration of wives’ income advantage. Int J Sociol Fam 37(2):203–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Winslow-Bowe S (2006) The persistence of wives’ income advantage. J Marriage Fam 68:824–842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Economic Forum (2021) Global gender gap report. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf

  • Zhang Y, Breunig R (2021) Gender norms and domestic abuse: evidence from Australia. Tax and transfer policy institute working paper, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Responsible Section Editor: Klaus F. Zimmermann

The chapter has benefitted from valuable comments of the editors, anonymous referees, and the excellent research assistance of Michael Baker. There is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New South Wales, School of Economics, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Gigi Foster

Authors
  1. Gigi Foster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gigi Foster .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. Center for Population, Development and Labour Economics at UNU – MERIT, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Foster, G. (2022). Female Breadwinning Across the Social Sciences. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_289-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_289-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation