Reversal of fortune

A third of working women are their home’s sole earners, reversing the traditional marital dynamic. Sharon Ní Chonchúir reports

IRELAND is no longer a country where women are expected to stay at home while men provide for them. But have the social changes of the past two decades been entirely positive? The 2011 Pfizer Health Index says 36% of working women are the sole earners for their households. What pressure does this place on these women? Does it affect their relationships with their husbands/partners? What impact has it on family?

Niamh Bonner, from Athenry in Galway, knows about being the breadwinner. She met her husband David when they were students in the UK, 23 years ago. They pooled their money. “We always had a joint account,” she says. “It’s never been a case of ‘this is my money and this is yours’.” They had equivalent salaries until they moved to Ireland in 2000. Since then, David has moved from job to job while nurse Niamh has been the main earner.