All change in the home for women earning more than their partners

Published on Monday 19 July 2010 15:05

MORE women are becoming their household's main breadwinner as families try to cope with the effects of the recession.

Almost a third who took part in the Women And Work Survey 2010 said they earned more than their male partners, and half said they brought in at least as much income.

One in ten of the 2,000 women surveyed from across the UK said they now had a house husband.

One of the reasons given by the poll was that in many cases the recession had hit the man in the relationship, shifting the burden of responsibility for bringing in enough money to pay the bills.

Campaigners hope the changing trend will kickstart better equality of pay and opportunity in the office.

Anna Bird, head of policy and campaigns at Fawcett, a pressure group for equality between men and women in the workplace, said: "This survey clearly shows support for a radical shift in the UK's workplace culture. More and more people want a better work-life balance, and more and more women want fathers able to take on a greater role in sharing responsibilities (in the home].

"In recent years, women's patterns of work and caring have changed, but all too often employers aren't keeping up.

Powerful woman

FOR Michelle Mone it's not so much a case of wearing the trousers in her relationship, as wearing the bra - the Ultimo bra which has brought her fortune and no little fame.

But when the lingerie tycoon took up some pursuading to ditch a string of high-profile models and do the promotional work for the latest range herself,and it was husband Michael, the company's finance director, who was among the board members who convinced her.

The husband of Scotland's Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini, below, gave up his job as a hairdresser to become a full-time househusband and look after their two children.

She has enjoyed a stellar career, from being appointed to the post of Solicitor General for Scotland in November 2001, which made her the first woman, the first procurator-fiscal, and the first solicitor to hold that post. And then in 2006, she became the first woman Lord Advocate

In the male-dominated world of banking, Jayne Anne Gadhia, left, has long stood out among the grey suits. The ambitious chief executive of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money group is a striking 6ft 2in blonde. Ms Gadhia has been the major breadwinner at her Edinburgh home. Her husband, Ashok works part-time in property development and cares for their daughter.

As a mother of four with a City-sized seven-figure salary, Katherine Garrett-Cox, above, has attracted far more media attention than her mostly male peers. At just 33 she became the youngest person to join the board at Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM). It was as one of the youngest fund managers of the time that she earned the moniker Katherine the Great.

Her husband Jeremy is himself an investment banker.

Flexibility is a boon , but savings help

GILLIAN Meighan had long earned more than her partner, Jason Leon, 43, but when he gave up work as a consultant to start his own business the gap widened dramatically.

With their first child Joshua just three years old, and a second baby due in November, the couple, who live in Edinburgh, have had to be pragmatic when budgeting for their future. However, they have also found benefits to their slightly less orthodox arrangement.

Mr Leon's company, On Site Generation, which offers training, consultancy, design and installation of renewable energy devices, such as wind turbines, gave him the flexibility to take his son swimming on Thursdays.

And rather than panic about the loss of earnings during her upcoming maternity leave, Ms Meighan, 44, head of communications and marketing at the Law Society Scotland, has saved to provide a cushion, which she hopes will see them through.

She said: "He has got to be realistic for a couple of years, it's a small company and he has had to invest heavily. But that's absolutely fine." Motherhood, in particular, has a direct and dramatic influence on women's employment prospects - many women return to work part-time after having children, but most part-time work is characterised by poor pay and little in the way of opportunities for promotion.

The study also found that many women were "realistic" about the downsides of giving up work, with almost half of all full-time mothers admitting they hated "not earning their own money", while a third missed work itself.

More than two-thirds of mothers said they still "preferred to keep their hand in at work", with 60 per cent of mothers of under-threes said they "preferred to work, albeit preferably part-time", rather than be a full-time mum.

Despite many mothers choosing to work part-time, the study found that half of women with full-time jobs said their employment made them feel "worthwhile", with 51 per cent adding that it made them more "confident".

Four out of ten women thought that, in future, the career of whoever was the highest earner would take precedence, regardless of gender, and a further 39 per cent felt mothers and fathers should "share the work and childcare load equally".

However, the survey also suggested resentment exists between mothers and women without children, who work in the same place.

Nine out of ten women said "child-free workers resented the flexi-hours and time off mothers can have", while 71 per cent said "other women were their harshest critics in the workplace".

A third of female directors thought "mothers were less productive".

Jane Bruton, editor of Grazia Magazine, which commissioned the study, said: "We're in the middle of a huge social shift. Women are increasingly earning as much or more than their partners and many of these women get a great amount out of their working lives.

"For many of these high earners it makes more sense for their partners to take on a greater domestic role.

"Of course, there are going to be mixed feelings about this, but it is definitely something that is becoming more accepted."

She added: "Many resent what they see as special treatment of working mothers. It's a depressing picture because if we don't want to exclude a whole generation of women from the workplace, we need to work with each other, not against each other."