She Works, He Doesn't - Discussion Questions 1-3

The irony of Laurie Earp's decision to go back to work after her child is born comes from the statement made in the opening paragraph. She imagined herself having a part time job, which would enable her to spend long afternoons with her children. Her decision to enter the major working world caused her to become the "Alpha Earner" of the family. This was ironic because many parents, if not all parents, of the generation always saw the male as being the "primary breadwinner."
An Alpha Earner is when the female of the household provides the high income for her family rather than the male. This situation is occurring more frequently due to the fact that in this economy careers will have highs and lows, therefore causing couples to "take turns being the primary breadwinner." This is both a positive and negative turn of events. For some couples, such as Dan and Lynn Murray, after the wife has the children, she realizes she prefers working in the office where she can control the environment. This also allows Dan to stay home and provide for their five children. While some families show that this can be a positive outcome, statistics show it can be negative when choosing a mate as well. Economist Maria Cancian from the University of Wisconsin states that women who have high paying careers are now seen by men as a "good catch." This shows that personality is no longer what people are looking into when choosing a mate. It's unpleasant to know that the people of today are beginning to focus on more financial stability than the personality of the individual.
In these types of situations when the female begins to bring in more income than the male, there are typically two reasons for it. Either it was planned, or the husband was laid off. In situations where the husband had a decent job and was laid off, the decline in household salary is unexpected. This causes money tension in the house. It is proven that when a family knowingly has the "Mr. Mom" situation, tensions are lessened in the household. The family is able to adapt easier than the family of the unexpected job termination because the decline is something that they can prepare themselves for.