Being the primary or sole income provider in your family can be empowering. But it also comes with a complex set of financial and personal considerations.
There are often additional considerations to weigh before making major financial or career decisions: What is your contingency plan if your salary decreases? How can you maximize your income? Is it worth taking risks in your career? You might also be balancing household and caregiving responsibilities.
Mercer Advisors understands the needs of households where a woman is the primary or sole income provider. Many of us are in the same situation. Fifty percent of our client-facing team are women and juggle similar concerns.1 We can help you build a plan that helps address your personal, professional, and financial goals.
As the primary income earner in my family, I find myself rethinking the way that I communicate to my husband and son. I try to be intentional about saying that I GET to go to work, versus that I HAVE to… but the responsibility of supporting my family both financially and emotionally can be a heavy burden. I try to go back to the gratitude mindset, while also being clear about my limits and what I need in order to recharge.
Most Primary Earner Wives Spend More Time on Caregiving and Housework Than Husbands
Note: a primary breadwinner earns more than 60% of the couple’s joint earnings. A sole breadwinner earns 100% of the couple’s earnings.
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2016-21 American time Use Survey (IPUMS). “In a Growing Share of Marriages, Husband and Wives Earn About the Same”
Achieving Financial Freedom with Mercer Advisors
With a detailed financial plan that addresses your concerns, our team can help you achieve financial security.
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Burnout is a real problem for women. In addition to the pressures of being a mother, wife, and caregiver, women are increasingly becoming the primary breadwinner for their families.
- The share of opposite-sex marriages where the wife is the sole or primary breadwinner went up from 5% in 1972 to 16% in 2023.1
- Wives ages 55 to 64 comprise 22% of those breadwinners in opposite-sex marriages.2
- Same-sex households account for a significant segment (17%) of all married female breadwinners.
Women between ages 55 and 64 are also likely providing unpaid care to a family member, a situation coined as, “The Sandwich Generation”. More than 75% of U.S. adults providing unpaid care to an adult over age 50 are women and many of them are raising children of their own.
Meanwhile, when husbands are the breadwinner, the gender gap in time spent on caregiving and housework widens, per Pew Center Research. Wives who are the primary earner in their marriage spend more time on caregiving and housework, and less time on leisure than their husbands do.
Taking a deep breath
We understand if you’re spread thin as the primary or sole income provider. Balancing both responsibility and nurturing roles can be overwhelming and can lead to intense stress. Every minute of your day is more than likely accounted for, leaving little time for yourself.
In addition to putting together a comprehensive financial plan that will address all aspects of your financial life and help alleviate worries about financial security, we can also help with other aspects related to your role in the family through coaching services that complement your wealth planning. For instance, we can help prepare you for difficult financial conversations with your partner, family planning concerns, and prioritization of responsibilities.
To decrease your mental load, count on us to answer some of the questions that may be weighing on you:
- What if my job goes away tomorrow?
- Why do I sometimes feel resentful towards my partner?
- What happens to my family if I pass away?
- Who will take care of my children or elderly parents if I am unable to?
- How can I prioritize my time more effectively?
Talking It Through
When we meet, we will be able to connect the dots for you. Coming up with a plan will include discussing and helping with financial and emotional challenges, including:
- Paying bills in an emergency – Ensuring there’s a contingency plan if your income stops.
- Disability insurance – helping protect your family if something happens to you that causes an interruption in income.
- Estate planning – Putting the proper documents together according to your wishes to help your family stay financially secure upon your death.
- Cash flow management – Creating a reasonable spending plan that helps ensure money is going where you want.
- Balancing workload with your spouse – Offering tools to engage in conversations and a third-party person to mediate if needed.
- Compartmentalizing responsibilities – Coaching to help you focus on the urgent and important matters in your life.
- Managing your investment portfolio – Providing a fiduciary approach that can allow you to concentrate on work and not spend time managing your investments.
To bridge potential communication gaps, regarding finances that you may have with your partner, we will share documents and tips to assist with relaying our practical points. It is also important that you both understand the value each of you brings to the relationship, financially or otherwise. We want to empower you to define your goals, while we focus on helping you achieve them with advice, plans, and actionable steps.
Taking advantage of resources
We will be with you all the way. When collaborating on a contingency plan with you, we will consider all the implications, to help you obtain your personal objectives. In addition, we will take your mental wellbeing into consideration and recommend useful solutions for easing your mind and sparing you valuable time.
Being a female breadwinner can come with many challenges, within our society and within a relationship. Our job is to support you by applying almost 40 years of experience as financial advisors, and as women who can understand how your needs are different from male breadwinners.
- The share of opposite-sex marriages where the wife is the sole or primary breadwinner went up from 5% in 1972 to 16% in 2023.1
Breadwinner Wives Have More Than One Job
Nearly 17% of the U.S. adult population provides unpaid care to an adult over the age of 50. More than 75% of these caregivers are women who, on average, spend almost as many hours a week providing care as a full-time job requires.
1 “In a Growing Share of Marriages, Husband and Wives Earn About the Same,” Pew Research Center, 2021
2 “What The Female Same-Sex Married Breadwinner Wants from An FA,” New York Life Investments Contributor, 2020
Client-facing employees include Client Services, Financial Planning and Family Wealth Services.
