This post comes from Paul O’Donnell on partner site CNBC.com.
The headlines coming out of Prudential Financial’s most recent study (.pdf file) of women and money are tinged with feminine pride: “More than half of American women are breadwinners,” crowed a typical article last week. But behind the triumphant banners was the news that women’s relationships with their finances remain troubled in some familiar ways.
The study’s news nugget – that 53% of women were the financial anchor in their households – has a nice ring to it, and tracks with other evidence that women are slowly coming into their own in the world of paid work.
Prudential’s researchers say, however, that women had become the primary income producers by default: Many of the women surveyed were single, and among those married or living with someone, only 22% were the breadwinners. Of those surveyed, 30% were the top earners, the data suggest, because their husbands or partners were unemployed. (Post continues below video.)
