Double the number of UK men now earn less than their partners

Published on Monday 3 December 2007 00:43

THE number of men in the UK earning less than their partners has doubled in the past five years, according to figures to be released today.

More than half of women surveyed said they were happy to be the main breadwinner with a fifth pleased their larger pay packets gave them more of a say in the household budget.

The survey, by the online bank Egg, suggested the shift in roles allowed men more leisure time, much to the annoyance of their partners.

Despite being in full-time employment, 43 per cent of the men polled admitted having time to go clothes shopping at least once a week, while nearly a third were free to meet friends for lunch. One in ten found time to work out at the gym. Meanwhile, 27 per cent of women said they found being the main breadwinner stressful.

Alison Wright, Egg spokeswoman, said: "There really has been a change over the last five years with some of the old stereotypes of who earns the money and who pays the bills being broken down.

"Men have now fully appreciated that their female counterparts are capable of being the main breadwinners and, as a result, they seem to be embracing a life of leisure - much to the annoyance of most partners."

Edmund Farrow and his wife Elaine, a computer programmer at Edinburgh University, were happy for him to give up his IT job and combine looking after Matthew, seven, Daniel, five, and Joanna, two, with running his website www.dadsdinner.com which offers advice to men caring for children full-time.

"We talked it through and decided I was suited to being at home. But sometimes these decisions are made for couples by changing work patterns. With three children we would be spending a large amount of our income on childcare so it makes sense to do it this way."

Mr Farrow rejected the image that men earning less than their partners are having an easy time.

"I am not sitting at home eating biscuits. I worked out the hours I did when our eldest was a baby and it was the equivalent of working nine-to-five for nine days a week. That increased to the same hours 11 days a week and then I stopped counting.

"We also discussed early on how we would divide up our cash. We both have our 'pocket money' which means there is no resentment over who spends what."

MONEY ROLE REVERSAL

AMONG the new breed of men whose partner's earnings outstrip their own are Dr Neil Murray whose wife is JK Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter novels. She has an estimated fortune of around 545 million.

Elish Angiolini, Scotland's Lord Advocate, has a full-time "househusband". Her partner Dom gave up hairdressing to look after their two children.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the managing director of Virgin Money who is masterminding the group's takeover of Northern Rock, is the major breadwinner at her Edinburgh home. Her husband, Ashok works part-time in property development and cares for their daughter.