Breadwinner model

In Britain, the breadwinner model developed among the emerging middle class towards the end of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century. Before this, in low-income families, a subsistence wage was paid based on the individual worker's output, with all family members expected to contribute to household upkeep.

There was another side to the transformation of wage relations in mid-19th-century Britain involving two closely related changes: first, a shift in the prevailing wage form, from a joint to an individual payment; and second, a shift in the predominant subsistence norm of a living wage, from a family group's income to the ideal of an adult male-breadwinner wage. This is the notion that the wage earned by a husband ought to be sufficient to support his family without his wife and young children having to work for pay.^[5]

The increase in wages among skilled laborers and lower-middle-class workers allowed a far larger number of families to support the entire family unit on a single wage, and the breadwinner model became an attainable goal for a far wider proportion of society. Within this model, "The division of labour in parenting tasks can also be classified as 'caring about' (breadwinning) and 'caring for' (nurturing) children".^[6]

In the United Kingdom, the emergence of the breadwinner norm coincided with and helped to facilitate the removal of children from the workforce.^[7] In 1821, approximately 49% of the nation's workforce was under the age of 20. Throughout the century, multiple pieces of legislation were enacted, limiting the age at which a child could enter the workforce and establishing mandatory education standards.^[8]

Historically, families that rely on the earning power of one parent have had a lower divorce rate than families in which both parents are employed.^[9] However, a lower divorce rate is not universally accepted as a positive facet of society. A primary reason women in domestic abuse situations choose not to divorce or report their spouses is economic dependence on their partner.^[10] Marriages in a breadwinner economy may last longer or be less likely to end, but this may be an effect of the economically disadvantaged partner lacking the freedom to end a bad marriage.

One associated disadvantage is that 'male breadwinner regimes make women dependent within marriage cohabitation especially when they have young children'.^[11] In societies where the breadwinner model is present, it is common for the non-earner (predominantly women) to have broken career paths, providing unpaid labor to the family or working part-time. This contributes to the fact that, on average, women obtain lower levels of lifetime earnings than men.^[11] This income disparity can often lead to an increase in financial insecurity or poverty – predominantly affecting women – if the relationship collapses. Another risk that has been identified with this has been a higher exposure to domestic violence, which has been associated with the non-earner's lack of independent resources.^[11]

Since the US economy has evolved past the breadwinner economy, studies have examined the well-being of working mothers. Data spanning more than 10 years showed that, on average, working mothers are happier than stay-at-home mothers, report better health, and have lower rates of depression.^[12]

In 2013, the UK female employment rate reached 67.2 percent, the highest since the Office for National Statistics's records began.^[15] As women's presence in the professional world has grown, as has support for gender equality, male–female relations in the home have changed, especially the breadwinner paradigm.^[16] The breadwinner model was most prevalent during the 20 years directly after World War II. During this time, the economy relied heavily on men to provide the main source of income and support the family, while women typically stayed at home to look after the children and undertake domestic work. "Women's support for gender specialisation in marriage began to decline rapidly from the late 1970s through to the mid 1980s, this was followed by an interval of stability until the mid 1990s".^[17] "As increasing proportions of women entered the paid labour market during the latter decades of the 20th century, the family model of a male breadwinner and female homemaker came under significant challenge both as a practice and an ideology".^[18]

There is now agreement in most literature that the breadwinner model, in which men take primary responsibility for earning and women for the unpaid work of care, has been substantially eroded.^[18][19][20]

The Nordic countries in particular have begun to adopt the dual-breadwinner model, with high employment rates among men and women, and a very small difference between men's and women's hours of work. Except for Denmark, research by the World Economic Forum has shown that all Nordic countries have closed over 80 percent of the gender gap.^[21]

In many countries, the likelihood of women's contribution to the household income drops sharply above 50% for heterosexual marriages. This gender cliff in the relative income contribution can be explained by both women and men preferring to marry people with higher income than themselves (Hypergamy) together with on average higher income for men.^[22]

The female breadwinner model, otherwise known as breadwinner mothers or breadwinner moms,^[23] takes place when the female provides the main source of income for the family. Recent data from the US Census Bureau indicate that "40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family". 37%^[24] of these "breadwinner moms"^[23] are married mothers who have a higher income than their husbands, and 63%^[24] are single mothers.

The decline of the breadwinner model has been accompanied by an erosion of the economic support of family members and the "distribution of time and regulation of marriage and parenthood".^[25] With two parents in the workforce, there is a risk that a job could undermine family life, consequently leading to relationship breakdown or adversely affecting original family formation.

While some evidence suggests that "women's gains on the economic front may be contributing to a decline in the formation and stability of marriages", one reason for this may be that women with greater earnings and economic security have more freedom to leave abusive marriages. Another possibility is that men are more hesitant about this change in social norms.^[26]

The ideal of the breadwinning model varies across the globe. In Norway, a country with a strong gender equality ideology, the breadwinner model is less prevalent.^[27] Second generation Pakistani immigrants living in Norway experience the effects of this equality and reinforce women's rights to paid work as opposed to the strict male centric ideologies that generations before them practiced.^[27] In the United Kingdom, women's rates of employment decline after becoming a mother, and the male breadwinning model is still constant.^[28]

In the United States during industrialization, nothing was more central to the American industrial order than the breadwinner ideal. It served to promote commerce while keeping it within proper bounds. The American Federation of Labor adopted the politics of male breadwinning. However, the North and South did not agree on this new cultural ideal, and it contributed to sectional political strife.^[29]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a workplace transition from office to home. The majority of the world's workforce (93% in 2022) was located in countries with lockdowns.^[30] Also, in-person services like daycare and school shut down at the same time.^[31] When women, especially women from minority groups, are employed outside the home, it can be challenging to manage their time effectively. These women are already at a disadvantage, and the weakening COVID economy, which has a disproportionate impact on the hiring of racial and ethnic minorities and women, may cause them to lose hours at work and influence their breadwinning role.^[31]

• Sexual division of labour
• Sociology of the family