Have you ever had to rethink something quite fundamental in your relationship? Had emotions/opinions you didn't know you had start to reveal themselves?
Let me try and put some of these thoughts into a vaguely coherent order.
We've had joint finances to one degree or another for years. I'm not gonna lie; when I was benefiting from that arrangement - me studying and T working full time - it was great. He clocked a lot of hours and earned a good wage. I didn't give it a second thought, though I was aware in the back of my mind that I'd be in a slightly tight spot if we broke up.
NOT that I would want to return to that state of affairs by any means, but right now the situation is reversed and it has been for a long time. While I've progressed steadily, he's basically been treading water - particularly accounting for inflation. Highlights: A job that was meant to lead to apprenticeship and qualification, and even better money, evaporated in the GFC. Another job promised advancement and promotion but failed to deliver, so he quit outright when we went travelling. Upon our return, two jobs turned toxic and fizzed out suddenly. (The first of those could have seen him pulling in six figures...)
For the first time in awhile, there is no longer the shimmer of a high(er) income around the corner. The current state of affairs is not totally settled, so I won't go into any detail, but it is not lucrative, nor is it likely to be. I'm cool with that - right now I just want consistency over everything else.
While I do consider all money 'ours', that hasn't sat all that well with me lately, as I've had to support us both through months and months of unemployment - for the better part of a year, in fact. Over time I became quietly, seethingly resentful, and that's an uncomfortable feeling to have.
We are a team. We're married. I am well aware of this. As a work buddy wisely pointed out, the pendulum swings back and forwards at different times. Her relationship balance is about to swing as she stares down the barrel of maternity leave, and leaning on her fiance for financial support.
I'd always expected T to eventually return to outearning me, but the way things have panned out, it looks like I'm going to continue to be the main earner forever. Which is fine, since I'm also the more career-driven one. But I can't honestly say this sits completely well with me either, and that's a feeling I'm struggling to come to grips with.
One astute commenter on this fantastic post at A Practical Wedding, On Marrying Down, really nails this dilemma. I can't put it any more succinctly than this:
I'm also the more career-oriented partner and I've struggled with the idea of "marrying down" in some ways. It's hard for me not to judge my husband according to those social standards of how men are "supposed" to think about work. But the truth is that if he was as ambitious as I am it would probably produce a lot of strain navigating it. I just don't know how to let go of my preconceptions about what I should want as a woman and make space for both of us to just be who we are.
It's not like I grew up in a household that fell strictly along gender lines; as far as I know, my mum has been the main earner for years, at least recently. Also, while I (consciously and unconsciously) chose a partner who is the opposite of my dad in every way, another weird way I've wound up emulating my parents is that our financial roles seem to be the same - the wife being the go-to money person. (The one difference is my dad spends nothing while T definitely like stuff.)
On the other hand, out in the working world I seem to be surrounded by women with higher earning partners - and in the spirit of full disclosure, the bitter half of me silently snarks ' that must be nice'.
I guess I have a strongly ingrained sense of fairness geared towards total equality that runs deeper than I thought.
Here's a silly yet telling anecdote. Our house always had a well stocked biscuit tin. When I was about 9 years old, it came to my attention that my little brother had been eating more biscuits than me. I started keeping count, my eagle eye trained on him and that cupboard. Let me tell you, he absolutely ripped through them. He got up into the double digits within a few days. At that point, I complained to my mother, who told me to drop it and get over it. Sulkily, I complied - but that always stuck in my craw.
Well, in the words of Coldplay... Nobody said it was easy. Heck, even Farnoosh Torabi (author of When She Makes More) has said she'd love for her husband to be the breadwinner. It's something I'll have to work through and process this year, as the trauma of the past year hopefully fades.
More reading on this topic:I make six figures, my boyfriend is a poet (Reddit)
How income disparity affects our relationship (LearnVest)
The weaker sex (The Atlantic)
When love crosses class lines (The Billfold)
Will our class differences tear us apart? (The Awl)
