Deborah Sussman on Women as Primary Breadwinners

It's a bit of a read so here's a snippet from it :)


'Secondary-earner husbands more likely to have been unemployed. Earnings disparities can arise not only from differences in age, education and occupation, but also from differences in labour force attachment and work patterns. Indeed, 16% of  secondary - earner husbands were unemployed at some point in 2003, compared with only 7% of  primary - earner husbands.

Moreover, the length of the husband’s unemployment spell was more likely to be longer when the wife was the primary earner. More than one-quarter of secondary-earner husbands who had been unemployed spent more than six months looking for work. On the other hand, only 12% of primary-earner husbands were unemployed for that length of time. The same held true in 1994 when 22% of secondary-earner husbands were unemployed at some point during the year, compared with only 10% of primary-earner husbands. In some cases then, the wife’s primary breadwinner role may not have been intended, but rather may have
occurred by default.'

How do you guys feel about a male/female dominated workplace? Do you think it's not as segregated today?

In terms of my own family, my dad has been unemployed since last September and my mum has been the breadwinner. I don't see any issue in this other than the obvious need for two incomes these days.

Do you think it should still be the man that goes out and works and the mother stays at home with the kids? Seeing as we are studying to be designers in our own right, we will have a strong opinion on how we feel we should be treated as an individual and not just as a gendered person.

Does this song have any relevance today?