Female Breadwinners: A subtle but significant shift in women’s paid employment in the 21st Century.

Abstract

In Australia, women earn more than men in fifteen per cent of families (ABS 2013). This gender income shift is growing and women as breadwinners represent an emerging phenomenon. This research documents these subtle but important shifts in conceptualising breadwinning, women’s paid employment and the world of work in the twenty-first century. The study investigates both the experience of women as breadwinners as well as the concept of breadwinning itself. Applying a comprehensive qualitative exploratory approach, this research presents the experience of thirty-seven female breadwinners.

The thesis offers three key findings. The first is that both the experience and definition of breadwinning is fundamentally altered when the breadwinner is a woman. Second, that female breadwinners represent a re-imagining of traditionally understood roles for both women and men; it is far from a simple case of role-reversal. Third, women as breadwinners are not found to be agents of change actively reforming the world of work. As ‘mavericks’ (Blair-Loy 2003) or ‘test cases’ (Risman 1998) they can be considered as exemplars of change, indicating what is possible in terms of women’s paid employment and in reimagining the division of work and family without reference to gender.

The research proposes a tri-dimensional conceptualisation of breadwinning that reflects the importance of income, work and gender as central components. Secondly, the research examines the inherent complexity of the term “female breadwinner” and proposes the alternative concept of “providing” as an area for further research into developing an expanded terminology that encompasses paid and unpaid work in providing both income and care. This thesis highlights the complexity of the experience of women as breadwinners in contemporary Australia and the subtle, but significant, shifts that are occurring.