RESEARCH CENTRE: Being the primary breadwinner is bad for men, good for women

A lot of focus is laid on the effect of gender roles on women, conveniently forgetting that they also affect men. Well, science has come to the rescue, with a new study suggesting that men who take on the traditional role of primary breadwinner, suffer ill health. Interestingly, the reverse has a positive effect on women.

That is, women who contributed a lot of financial support to the family are happier than those who don’t.

For the study, sociologists from the US analysed data from national surveys conducted from 1997 through to 2011. They compared the relationship between how much men and women contributed to their households and their health and general wellbeing. The study wanted to find adverse effects, if any, that traditional gender roles have on both genders.

They found that men who act as the sole providers in their homes are more likely to suffer adverse mental and physical effects. Taking on full responsibility for bringing home the bacon put great strain on a man’s health, as well as his general wellbeing. The more provider roles a man took on, the more his health and wellbeing deteriorated. In fact, the men with the worst psychological and physical wellbeing were those ones who earned significantly more than their spouses.

On the flip side, when the researchers looked at how shouldering the burden to provide affected women, they found that women who took on more financial responsibilities at home were happier and healthier, especially if they were the sole providers. Interestingly, the less financial responsibility a woman took on to provide for her family in comparison with her spouse, the more her physical and psychological wellbeing declined.

Explaining these findings, Christin Munsch, who led the study, said, “A lot of what we know about how gender roles play out in marriage focuses on ways in which the women are disadvantaged. Men are expected to be breadwinners yet providing for their families with little or no help has negative repercussions. Women, on the other hand, see providing as an opportunity or choice. Breadwinning women may feel a sense of pride, without worrying about what others will say when they can’t or won’t maintain it. After all, they have accomplished something for their gender.”

If findings of this study are anything to go by, maybe it is about time gender roles became more fluid. Maybe it is  time for men to take on more homemaking and child caring roles and for women to contribute more to support their families financially.