Hubby Slugs

By Dian Vujovich

Yippee. Yahoo! Who knew? And what’s so great about it, anyway?

While I was being exfoliated, reinvigorated, hand-rubbed and gently scrubbed at the wonderfully delightful Golden Door Spa across the state in Naples, the big news-word was that working women are now making major contributions to their household’s income.

Seems folks in the media were pleased with that. “Big woo,” is what I say.

Men still earn more than women on a dollar-for-dollar-basis, like 20 percent more. Men still do less of the housework than their wives. Men still run the boardrooms, Congress and the Supreme Court. And now we’re supposed to jump up and down because more women are graduating from college then ever before and adding more bacon to the skillet than their betrothed? I don’t think so.

One of the reasons my mother wanted me to go to college was to get an MRS degree. Behind her thinking was a hope that I’d marry a well-educated guy and live the “Donna Reed” or “Father Knows Best” kind of stay-at-home-always-in-a-dress life-style. None of that happened, of course. But what was really behind her hope was that I wouldn’t have to work a full-time job as she did.

My mother moved on to heavenly pastures decades ago but I know she’d agree with me that this new research from a Pew Research Center study showing women are now “shouldering more economic responsibilities for their families than ever before” is nothing to crow about.

Yes, it’s great women have made some positive income strides and have gotten college degrees. But, they are still working their tails off. And yes it’s great that today’s younger women don’t appear to be as submissive on the whole as older women with respect to their relationships with their hubbies. Which, by the way has nothing to do with this study.

But what’s not so great about the research is that it shows— for the first time— that men’s contributions to household income have fallen while those of the ladies have risen. Looks to me like the slugs are winning.

More at: http://tinyurl.com/yao29jt.