Men economically dependent on women more likely to cheat

Editor - These days married couples have various arrangements on how they raise children, who stays home to do what, and who assumes one role, and the other a different one.  But experts tell us that economics can interfere with these modifications, especially if the woman earns more money than a man.

A study several years ago finds that men who are economically dependent are more likely to cheat.  The opposite is the case with women.

“But for women, economic dependency seems to have the opposite effect: the more dependent they are on their male partners, the less likely they are to engage in infidelity,” said Christin Munsch, a sociology Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University, and who authored the study,  “The Effect of Relative Income Disparity on Infidelity for Men and Women.”

The study examined young adults who were either married or living with someone in a committed relationship.  Men in these relationships where women's income predominated were found to be five times more likely to cheat than men who contributed an equal amount of money to the partnership.

“For women, making less money than a male partner is not threatening, it is the status quo,” said Munsch. “More importantly, economically dependent women may encounter fewer opportunities to cheat, and they may make a calculated decision that cheating just isn’t worth it. If they get caught, their livelihood is at risk.”

This research has implications for today's woman, as the Pew Forum found in 2013 that women are the leading breadwinners in 40% of relationships.  Does this mean an increased percentage of infidelity will occur as well?

A graph representing the rise in the percentages of women who earn more than their husbands can be found here, although it extends only to 2012.