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