When I had a more lucrative job than my husband, he became a workaholic until he out earned me. He didn’t do more at home, he did more at work.

“Traditional” men do not like being out-earned by their wives. They feel like they’re failed husbands, who never imagined themselves in such a situation.

I felt bad that he felt that way, because I didn’t. I was really proud of myself, I was earning less than what I was able to in other geographic regions of the country, but what I thought was reasonable. I’d never thought about a wife’s salary compared to a husband’s, and my identity was not based upon that income’s comparison, but combined value. I was relieved when his salary increased to eclipse mine because of the shot it gave his self regard.

Men who are out earned by their wife tend to overcompensate, usually to their own detriment. Their wife feels it and after a while wonders why she puts up with it, and then looks at him with his fragile ego and ungenerous behavior towards her and then her family/friends remind her that she brings home the bacon, fries it up, and cleans the pan. All he does is eat the profits. And sulk.