A Pew Research Center report out has shown that women have outpaced men in education and earnings growth. As a result there are more role reversals in the traditional marriage, and changes in how a mate is mate is chosen.
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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 1970 only 4% of women who worked brought home more money than their husbands did. In 2007 the number rose to 22%.
The national economic downturn is reinforcing these gender reversal trends, because it has hurt employment of men more than women. Males accounted for about 75% of the 2008 decline in employment among working-age individuals. As a result, women are moving toward a new milestone in which they constitute half of all the employed. Women's earnings grew 44% from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% growth for men. That sharper growth has enabled women to narrow, but not close, the earnings gap with men.
More women are graduating college than men. Women now are the majority both of college graduates and those who have some college education but not a degree. From an economic perspective, these trends have contributed to a gender role reversal in the gains from marriage.
