August 8, 2008
New Cornell study: Stand by your man's crazy work schedule, even if it means abandoning your own career
NWjobs
Can you handle one more blog post about wives and husbands and kids and careers and stay-at-home parents? Because I can't resist mentioning this latest study on the topic.
According to the study (courtesy of Cornell University's sociology department, and based on U.S. census stats from 1995 to 2000), when husbands work 60+ hours a week, their wives are 44 more likely to abandon their own career to keep the household running smoothly. And if the husband works 60+ hours a week and the couple has kids, the number of wives who abandon their own career jumps up to 90 percent.
On the flip side, "men aren't any more likely to stop working when their wives begin to spend 60 hours a week or more on the job," says a U.S. News & World Report article on the study.
What's more, "even after [researchers] adjusted the statistics to account for factors like education levels and income, the gender differences remained."
I don't like these lopsided stats any more than I imagine you do. Plus, I've often wondered how these studies would play out if same-sex and/or unmarried couples factored into the equation.
But back to the study at hand: I know many couples throughout the country who do not neatly fit into the parameters put forth in this study. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one. So go ahead, tell me your best breadwinning mom story. Comment away.
Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com
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Debra Johnson on August 24, 2008 10:33 PM | Reply
Man, what a crock. Both of us were ivy league grads. After putting my husband through law school, helping 15 years by working for his practice with no pay to "support him" and hopefully get time in the future for my dream job, taking care of the kids, I'm now a single Mom--(yeah, my choice, but the marriage was a thorough disappointment)--with little applicable skills for the job market. Men change and marriages fall through--especially when men perceive a disparity in income levels--mine did. In retrospect, I made lots of mistakes...the first believing that helping your man out is the way to future happiness. Baloney. Women/Moms, keep your skills current. You may need to rely on them sooner than you think. Am I bitter? Damn straight!