Wives Earning More Than 40 Percent of Household Income is Bad for the Husbands' Health–Study

New research from the University of Bath shows that husbands become increasingly stressed and uncomfortable as their spouse's wages earn more than 40 percent of the household income.

A study of more than 6,000 American heterosexual couples over 15 years showed husbands are at their most anxious when they are the sole breadwinner, carrying all the burden of responsibility for the household's finances. Stress levels decline as their wives' earnings reach at least 40 percent below the household income. But as women's profits go beyond that point, the study showed that the husbands' stress levels gradually increase.

Dr. Joanna Syrda, an economist at the University of Bath's School of Management, said the findings suggest that social norms about men earning more than their wives as breadwinners could be bad for men's health. "[The results] also [prove] how [powerful and steadfast] are gender identity norms," Syrda added.

The economist clarified that the results might change as time moves on and as different customs evolve within societies and groups. However, Syrda also said that the results are clear enough to indicate the persistence of gender identity norms, and their part in male health issues - including mental, emotional, and social problems.

Pew Research Center shows that only 13 percent of married women earned more than their husbands in the 1980s. But the figure in 2017 showed that it has gone up and was already close to one third of the entire population. It is believed that the trend is likely to continue.

Dr. Syrda and her team were more engrossed in how Pew's results would affect social norms, well-being, and our understanding of masculinity.

"The [outcomes] of [conventional] gender role reversals in marriages associated with wives' higher earnings [traverses in] multiple dimensions - including physical and mental health, life satisfaction, marital fidelity, divorce, and marital bargaining power," Syrda said.

The lead researcher explained that traditional social gender norms suggest men may be more likely to undergo emotional distress if they become the secondary earner in the household or become financially dependent on their wives.

Syrda said the elevated mental and emotional distress that occurs with spouses' financial dependence on their wives could also have practical bases due to bargaining in fear of degraded economic status. "The effects are larger among cohabiting couples, possibly due to the higher probability of dissolution," she said.

The study also showed difference in how husbands and wives assessed their own psychological distress and that of their partner.

Survey respondents weighed the respondents distress in terms of sadness, nervousness, restlessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything was an effort. The results showed that men had better mental health than their wives reported on their behalf.

Syrda said the wives's responses about their spouses would be less accurate if social roles preclude the admission of vulnerability. She added that men are inclined to hide symptoms of stress and depression.

The wives, in fact, reported their husbands' lowest distress level was when they were contributing 50 percent of the household income. The husbands, on the other hand, reported lowest distress when their wives contributed 40 percent or less to the income.

"The fact that a wife observes to a lesser degree her husband's elevated psychological distress when he is financially dependent on her may be simply because he does not communicate it-this may be yet another manifestation of gender norms," she said.