When ‘I Do’ Means Carrying The Weight Alone.

“My wife doesn’t work, so all the home expenses rely heavily on me. Before I met my wife, she was a go-getter, working, earning, and hustling to keep body and soul together. That drive attracted me so much that I saw a woman with vision and potential. Because I, too, considered myself a hardworking man, I believed we could build something solid together.

One thing led to another, we courted, and eventually tied the knot, but five years into my 14-year marriage, everything changed. After we had our kids, my wife stopped working entirely, and for the other nine years to date, the financial weight of the home has rested solely on my shoulders.
I love my wife and children deeply, but her unwillingness to work or support the home financially is draining me.”—Anonymous.

His story is not unique. In fact, it echoes through many modern marriages today. Homes where it was expected, sometimes even agreed, that both partners would work, support each other, and share the financial load, but somewhere along the line, one person loses the grit to grind, and the other becomes the sole engine powering the entire home.

Unlike what many millennials grew up seeing, where one parent working full-time could sustain an entire family, today’s economic reality has rewritten the script entirely. The cost of living has no respect for romance or traditional gender roles.