Women are increasingly better educated than men and earning more in the workplace. This economic downturn of the past two years has emphasized this marriage reality even more.
Many men today are looking at the total marriage package before making a commitment. The wife needs to be able to earn money, be educated and bear his children. This means women are also looking at fiinding their mate in a different light. They want a partnership based on taking care of the money, the house, and the children. Today many marriages are being severely tested around financial issues as women are taking on more and more of the economic responsibilities in the home. The man is no longer the primary bread winner in the family. Women are gaining financial independence and like their male counterparts, are requiring a partner rather than a traditional stay home with the children scenario. Co-parenting is changing the man and woman’s role in the home.
A recent study showed that the wife is emerging as the dominant income provider in one out of five marriages. As men leave their first wife for a financially independent woman they have met in the workplace, the stay-at-home Mother is at risk. The stay-at-home Mother is competing with the independent woman in the workplace for her husband’s attentions. But men need to realize, women are increasingly leaving their traditional marriage as well - these women are not necessarily looking for a replacement husband either.