The Numbers Behind The Big Flip

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This is why we're making The Big Flip.

 

SOURCES

THE FACTS

  • Mothers are breadwinners in 40% of American families. 1
  • The number of stay-at-home dads in the U.S. has doubled since 1989. 2
  • Women are projected to not just close the income gap—but to out-earn men on average by 2028. 3In other words, the big flip will be the new normal.

THE CHALLENGES

  • Husbands whose wives make more money are 61% less happy. 4
  • Wives who are primary breadwinners are also significantly less happy about their family lives than other women. 5
  • Men are 5 times more likely to cheat when financially dependent on their wives. 6
  • Divorce is 40% more likely when a woman makes over 60% of the family’s income. 7

THE BIASES

  • 51% of Americans still think that kids are better off with mom at home than at work. 1
  • Only 8% of Americans think that kids are better off with dad at home than at work. 1
  1. Pew Research Center. “Breadwinner Moms: Mothers Are the Sole or Primary Provider in Four-in-Ten Households with Children; Public Conflicted about the Growing Trend.” Pew Research Center: Social & Demographic Trends, May 29, 2013. http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/
  2. Pew Research Center. “6 facts about American fathers.” Pew Research Center: Fact Tank, News in the Numbers, June 16, 2016. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/16/fathers-day-facts/
  3. Silverstein, Michael J.; Sayre, Kate; The Boston Consulting Group. “What Do Women Want?” Boston Consulting Group’s Women Speak Worldwide’s Global Survey: Early results. http://www.womenspeakworldwide.com/Early-results.htm
  4. Wilcox, W. Bradford; Dew, Jeffrey. “No One Best Way: Work-Family Strategies, the Gendered Division of Parenting, and the Contemporary Marriages of Mothers and Fathers. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Sociology, University of Virginia (2008). Referenced in “The State of Our Unions: Marriage in America 2009, Money & Marriage.” University of Virginia, The National Marriage Project, Institute for American Values, p. 19. http://nationalmarriageproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/SOOU2009.pdf
  5. Bertrand, Marianne; Pan, Jessica; Kamenica. “Gender Identity and Relative Income within Households.” National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper, May 2013. http://www.nber.org/papers/w19023 Referenced in New York Times article, “U.S. Women on the Rise as Family Breadwinner,” by Ramped, Catherine; May 29, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/business/economy/women-as-family-breadwinner-on-the-rise-study-says.html?_r=0
  6. Munsch, Christin L. “The Effect of Relative Income Disparity on Infidelity for Men and Women.” Cornell University, 2010. Referenced in article on FiveThirtyEight.com, “How Many Women Earn More Than Their Husbands,” by Mona Chalabi, Feb 5, 2015. http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-many-women-earn-more-than-their-husbands/ (A 2015 update by Munsch confirms the trend of increased infidelity amongst husbands of breadwinner wives continues. “Her Support, His Support: Money, Masculinity, and Marital Infidelity.” American Sociological Review. 2015, Vol. 80(3) 469-495. http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/journals/CS/Jun15ASRFeature.pdf)
  7. Teachman, Jay; Western Washington University. “Wives’ Economic Resources and Risk of Divorce.” Journal of Family Issues, October 2010. http://jfi.sagepub.com/content/31/10/1305.abstract Referenced in Forbes article, “Women Who Earn More, More Likely To Get Divorced,” by Howard, Caroline; Sept 10, 2010,http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2010/09/10/women-who-earn-more-more-likely-to-get-divorced/#5e71a7194d51