Blokes with stay-at-home partners more prone to stress and depression, study finds
But women are more likely to see earning as a positive opportunity
WORKING men are less prone to depression if their wife has a job, a study reveals.
Blokes with stay-at-home partners were found to also suffer poorer physical health.
Sociologists behind the research blame the pressure of being sole breadwinner. But for women the opposite was true.
Their score on a well-being scale soared when they were the ones who are bringing home the bacon.
Sociology prof Christin Munsch said men tend to see providing for their families as more of an “obligation and worry”.
She added: “Women, on the other hand, may approach breadwinning as an opportunity or choice.”
Prof Munsch analysed 15 years of data about the general happiness of husbands and wives aged 18 to 32 in the US.
Blokes whose wives had given up paid work typically had a five per cent lower wellbeing score than those in households where both continued to contribute an income.
The health of husbands who ended up as the sole breadwinner also got 3.5 per cent worse on average.
Prof Munsch, of the University of Connecticut, said it showed both sexes suffer from gender expectations.
She added: “Men are expected to be breadwinners. Yet providing for one’s family with little or no help has negative repercussions.”