Episode 120: Does Your Partner Support Your Success?

I’m hearing that more and more, that not only is there a reluctance or a discomfort when women are making more than men in a relationship but it’s actually hurting relationships.
— Diane Reichenberger
I think you have to be clearer than most couples are about how are we going to manage two successful careers? What are the terms of engagement, what kind of support do we need from eachother?
— Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
Avivah wittenberg-cox

Avivah wittenberg-cox

This time we're talking about couplehood and careers. My first guest is shocked that her mentees' boyfriends refuse to marry them until they - the men - are the main breadwinner. My second guest isn't surprised at all. In this episode we talk about who supports whom in heterosexual and same-sex couples, and what that support looks like. We discuss how dual-career couples can maintain partnerships where each person gets what they want and need. And we get tips on using team-building techniques to good effect at home.

My guests are Diane Reichenberger and Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, author of Late Love: Mating in Maturity

You can also read a transcript of the show

Further reading/listening: Avivah first appeared on TBE in episode 41, Stop Fixing Women, Start Fixing Companies.

This is a great episode of the new Harvard Business Review podcast Women at Work - it's called Couples That Work. Avivah is in this one too, along with other guests. 

Here's the 2015 Work and Families Institute study Modern Families - same and different-sex couples negotiating at home.

Do Millennial Men Want Stay-at-Home Wives? via the New York Times, by Stephanie Coontz.

Fairygodboss recently did a survey on male/female couples' attitudes to money in relationships. 

Diane reichenberger (r) and her wife sharon on their wedding day with jack the dog

Diane reichenberger (r) and her wife sharon on their wedding day with jack the dog