When Your Wife Earns More Than You Do

In 1960 about 4% of wives earned more than their husbands. In 2023 it was 16%. My wife earns much more than me, but it doesn’t bother me at all.  For many years, when I was a banker, it was the opposite. Now I’m a starving writer and she’s a tenured academic. My parents would have thought her earning more was an embarrassing failure on my part. But more and more men are staying home with the kids or bringing in less money than their high-performing wives.

We saved our money for many years so we could do what we wanted rather than what we had to. That and my wife’s health care plan allowed me to pursue writing full-time. Now I’m spending more hours on my writing job than I did on my banking jobs. I write or do book promotion seven days a week. My wife also works seven days week because her research is her calling.

My father said you need to have more than one career in your life. He sold a company and devoted the rest of his life to the YMCA. He helped more people than my books ever will. I can’t say that I’m going to change my readers’ lives. But hopefully they’re both entertained and moved by my books.

How about you? Have you found a second career? You’re lucky if you get to a point financially where you can concentrate on meaning in your life rather than paying the mortgage.