Marriage is a Good Financial Choice for Men

Glancing through news headlines about marriage this morning, the research of a new study by the Pew Research Center is getting a lot of attention. The researchers found that men benefit more financially from being married than women.

"Historically, marriage was the surest route to financial security for women. Nowadays it's men who are increasingly getting the biggest economic boost from tying the knot, according to a new analysis of census data."
Source: David Crary. "Report: More Men Get Economic Boost From Marriage." ABCNews.go.com. 1/19/2010.

"If you think women still reap more economic benefit than men do from marriage, you may be living in the past. Today, men are better off economically because their wives are, too ..."
Source: Sharon Jayson. "In today's economics of marriage, it's a man's world." USAToday.com. 1/19/2010.

"Men now are increasingly likely to marry wives with more education and income than they have, and the reverse is true for women," said Paul Fucito, spokesman for the Pew Center. "In recent decades, with the rise of well-paid working wives, the economic gains of marriage have been a greater benefit for men."
Source: Sam Roberts. "More Men Marrying Better Educated, Richer Wives." NYTimes.com. 1/18/2010.

"Yet she [Stephanie Coontz] said the trends also reflected the fact that many husbands no longer feel compelled to be their families' sole breadwinner and are embracing a bigger share of household responsibilities and child-raising."
Source: David Crary. "Report: More Men Get Economic Boost From Marriage." ABCNews.go.com. 1/19/2010.

"We've known for some time that men need marriage more than women from the standpoint of physical and mental well-being," said Stephanie Coontz, a professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and research director for the Council on Contemporary Families, a research and advocacy group. "Now it is becoming increasingly important to their economic well-being as well."
Source: Sam Roberts. "More Men Marrying Better Educated, Richer Wives." NYTimes.com. 1/18/2010.

"In a trend that researchers call "the rise of wives," women are increasingly better-educated than their husbands and have emerged as the dominant income-provider in one of five marriages, according to a new report released today."
Source: Donna St. George. "More wives are the higher-income spouse, Pew report says." WashingtonPost.com. 1/19/2010.

"What's radically changed is that marriage now is a better deal for men," said Richard Fry, co-author of the report ..."
Source: Donna St. George. "More wives are the higher-income spouse, Pew report says." WashingtonPost.com. 1/19/2010.

The top three marriage problems we see mentioned in emails and on the Marriage Forum include finances, sex, and chores. These three issues can be made more difficult to deal with when gender role reversal situations are not discussed in a marriage.

Marriage is a Good Financial Choice for Men originally appeared on About.com Marriage on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 06:54:28.

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