She Can Bring Home the Bacon: Economic Benefits of Marriage

February 1, 2010 | By admin More

The institution of marriage has undergone significant changes in recent decades as women have outpaced men in education and earnings growth, according to a Pew Research Center research report issued this week.

These unequal gains have been accompanied by gender role reversals in both the spousal characteristics and the economic benefits of marriage.

Allison O’Kelly, CEO of Mom Corps, says that while women are earning more and are better educated in 2010, she is also seeing women making family decisions with their husbands to maintain a balance in their homes. O’Kelly says couples are striving to have more equal roles in parenting and household duties.

“We have many women at Mom Corps who are back in the work place now because their husbands have either lost their job or commissions have been cut. More than ever, women are looking to return to the work force in a flexible manner” said O’Kelly.

The recession has further exacerbated this trend as the majority of those losing their jobs are male. Males accounted for about 75% of the 2008 decline in employment among prime-working-age individuals.

Women are moving toward a new milestone in which they constitute half of all the employed. Their share increased from 46.5% in December 2007 to 47.4% in December 2009. Many men who have lost their jobs have had their fall cushioned by a working spouse.

From an economic perspective, these trends have contributed to a gender role reversal in the gains from marriage. In the past, when relatively few wives worked, marriage enhanced the economic status of women more than that of men. In recent decades, however, the economic gains associated with marriage have been greater for men than for women.

In 2007,according to the Pew Research Center study, median household incomes of three groups — married men, married women and unmarried women — were about 60% higher than those of their counterparts in 1970. But for a fourth group, unmarried men, the rise in real median household income was smaller — just 16%.

Mom Corps provides companies direct access to top-tier experienced talent ready to work on an as needed basis, an option that meets the demands of many businesses’ cycles. While enabling professionals to engage in challenging work in their fields, they are also afforded the flexibility for their personal needs and responsibilities. With the launch of its franchising, Mom Corps is tapping into an ever growing pool of experienced, educated professionals seeking flexible, career alternatives. For more information, visit http://www.momcorps.com/.