Be Careful What You Wish For

Women who outearn their men are less happy.

Using wage and prescription medication data from Denmark, we . . . show that men outearned by their wives are more likely to use erectile dysfunction medication than their male breadwinner counterparts, even when this inequality is small. Breadwinner wives suffer increased insomnia/anxiety medication usage, with similar effects for men. . . . Our results suggest that social norms play important roles in dictating how individuals respond to upward social comparisons.

A rather astute conclusion:

They suggest just as strongly, and to our mind more plausibly, that the traditional marital division of labor is better attuned to the biological differences between the sexes than is its reverse. If that's true, then the continuing march of feminism can be expected to leave many more unhappy women and men in its wake. Happy Valentine's Day.