Gaining Self-Sufficiency
Moving from alimony dependence to work
New Economics of Marriage: The Rise of Wives
by Richard Fry and D'Vera Cohn, Pew Research Center
January 19, 2010
"The institution of marriage has undergone significant changes in recent decades as women have outpaced men in education and earnings growth. These unequal gains have been accompanied by gender role reversals in both the spousal characteristics and the economic benefits of marriage."
"A larger share of men in 2007, compared with their 1970 counterparts, are married to women whose education and income exceed their own, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of demographic and economic trend data. A larger share of women are married to men with less education and income"
"In 1970, 28% of wives in this age range had husbands who were better educated than they were, outnumbering the 20% whose husbands had less education. By 2007, these patterns had reversed: 19% of wives had husbands with more education, versus 28% whose husbands had less education. In the remaining couples -- about half in 1970 and 2007 -- spouses have similar education levels."
"Along the same lines, only 4% of husbands had wives who brought home more income than they did in 1970, a share that rose to 22% in 2007." More...
Recession Drives Women Back to the Work Force, New York Times, September 18, 2009
Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, By Linda R. Hirshman
If I Don't Do it Now: Career Makeovers for the Working Woman, By Pamela Robinson
More Workforce Participation By Women
Howard N Fullerton, Jr., is senior demographic statistician in the Office of Employment Projections, Bureau of Labor Statistics, stated in an article he wrote, Labor force participation: 75 years of change, 1950-98 and 1998-2025,