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38 Percent Of Women Earn More Than Their Husbands

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I’ve been working with NPR to discuss a number of the week. This time it’s 38 percent, the total share of American women who are earning more than their husbands.

Unfortunately, it seems like when women out-earn their husbands, the relationship suffers. Research has shown that those marriages tend to have a more unequal division of labor, be more likely to result in infidelity and even divorce.

But what’s often not clear is why it affects the relationship when the woman is the breadwinner. Is it because a high-earning woman spends even less time at home than a high-earning man? Is about sensitive male egos, or expectations about who should be bringing home the bacon?

Have a listen and tell us what you think in the comments. You can also read more from me on female breadwinners and trends over time.

Mona Chalabi is data editor at the Guardian US, and a columnist at New York Magazine. She was previously a lead news writer for FiveThirtyEight.

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