US-Forscher: "Grundlegende Veränderung" in der finanziellen Rollenverteilung zwischen Mann und Frau

MSNBC berichtet über eine neue Studie:

In the new dynamics of home economics, it’s not just that men want women to contribute financially to a marriage: The vast majority of men say they wouldn't even mind if their wives brought home the bigger paycheck. (…)

After years of being conditioned to believe that men relish the role of primary provider, researchers were surprised to discover that just 12 percent of men surveyed said they’d mind if their wife earned more than they do, and in general men seemed happy to share the breadwinner role. (…)

One quarter of men surveyed said that their wives aren’t working, but 40 percent of those men wish she did. Of the approximately 75 percent of men whose wives did work, only 5 percent wished she was at home.

Experts attribute that in part to men not wanting to bear the sole burden of providing for their families. In fact, 35 percent of men and 40 percent of women surveyed said a key benefit of having a spouse make money is that it alleviates the pressure of being the only financial provider.

“It is a very tough era to be a sole breadwinner,” Lever noted.

Coontz said she thinks men also may enjoy the intellectual stimulation of a working spouse, and not want to “come home to a wife who was frequently either bored or boring.” (…)

Still, some women may be working harder than they’d like because of today’s economic realities. The survey showed that 19 percent of women would work less if her partner earned more, compared with only 7 percent of men.

Die Überraschung der Forscher kann ich ja nicht so ganz teilen. Ich hatte hier schon über vergleichbare Umfragen, auch aus den USA, berichtet, und auch die Genderama-Leser haben in der Kommentarspalte überwiegend zugestimmt: Natürlich kann es in Ordnung sein, wenn die Frau die Hauptlast trägt, wenn es um das Ernähren einer Familie geht. Das beliebte Vorurteil, dass "die Männer" (oder auch "die Männerrechtler") der traditionellen Rollenverteilung nachtrauern würden, ist vor allem ein weibliches Angstbild (oder soll schlicht der Verunglimpfung dienen) und hat wenig bis nichts mit der Wirklichkeit zu tun.