Main Breadwinner Women in Hungary and Their Work-family Balance Related Coping Strategies

Mária Neményi,Judit Takács

doi:10.17356/ieejsp.v2i3.170

Abstract

In this study, being the first Hungarian qualitative study devoted to this subject, we focus on the work-life balance situation of Hungarian women acting as main breadwinners within their family. The empirical base of our study consisted of 22 in-depth interviews conducted with Hungarian mothers of dependent children younger than 14, living in (heterosexual) couple households, who bring in at least 60% of the total household earnings. We examined how the main breadwinner role might affect the gender norm expectations acquired during socialisation, the division of domestic labour and child care duties between the partners, as well as the internal power relations of the couple. According to our findings, various versions of work-life balance management could be identified even within our small-scale qualitative sample on the basis of two main dimensions. On the one hand, on the basis of our interviewees’ accounts we examined whether the partners had similar role expectations in terms of egalitarian sharing of family related tasks or traditionally gendered role specialisation. On the other hand, we have also considered to what extent other contextual factors contributed to women becoming primary breadwinners, and whether these were perceived in terms of external constraints or preferred choices (or both). On the basis of our analyses we have identified four models of family relations in the context of primary female breadwinning: the traditional, the egalitarian, the externally forced role reversal and the consciously implemented role reversal models.

Highlights

In most European countries the number of women acting as main breadwinners within families is still low (Klesment and Van Bavel, 2015), even though a decline in male breadwinning can be observed since the second half of the 20th century
In our interviews we identified four models of family relations, which we refer to as (1) the traditional, (2) the egalitarian, (3) the externally forced role reversal and (4) the consciously implemented role reversal models
We have considered to what extent other contextual factors contributed to the woman becoming the primary breadwinner, either from the very beginning of the partnership or as a result of changes leading to a temporary arrangement that remained permanent

Summary

Introduction

In most European countries the number of women acting as main breadwinners within families is still low (Klesment and Van Bavel, 2015), even though a decline in male breadwinning can be observed since the second half of the 20th century. The increasing level of female education may lead to a higher earning potential in the paid labour market and to an increasing number of women becoming main breadwinners. An increasing number of studies focus on families with a stay-at-home father and a breadwinner mother (such as Chesley, 2011; Doucet, 2004 etc.), and on the benefits of sharing the responsibility for breadwinning among the married or cohabiting partners (Raley et al, 2006), including a higher level of household income and less financial stress, and sharing common experiences and having more to talk about (Munsch, 2015)

Objectives

Results

Conclusion