Women more affected than men by overworked spouses

Women in dual-breadwinner households are affected more by their husbands working longer hours than husbands are affected by their wives burning the midnight oil. A new study found that working women whose husbands put in more than 60 hours a week were 44 percent more likely to quit their own jobs.

This number jumped among professional women. They were 52 percent more likely to quit their jobs. The percentage of husbands in dual-breadwinner households who quit their jobs wasn't affected by wives' working more than 60 hours a week. Researcher Youngjoo Cha says the study shows gender inequality in the workplace and a potential return of the “separate spheres” arrangement, where women are the homemakers and men are the breadwinners.

The study also found that, among professional workers, husbands in dual-earner households were more than twice as likely to work more than 50 hours a week than wives. That may indicate that professional women expect less spousal support than men for their jobs.