In its article Don't Marry Career Women, Forbes.com warns men not to marry women who work more than 35 hours a week or earn more than $30,000, claiming that professional women are "more likely to get divorced, more likely to cheat, less likely to have children, and if they do have kids, they are more likely to be unhappy about it."
I'm a professional woman and mother who works and earns more than the women Forbes warns against, and I'd hate to think women like me are going to find themselves alone because men who equal them in education and earning power are looking for meek, less ambitious women who will busy themselves with cleaning house instead of running off with a co-worker. ("When your spouse works outside the home, chances increase they'll meet somone they like more than you.")
That said, I think marriages where both the husband and wife work full time in demanding professions are frequently strained, particularly with the addition of small children. I'm fortunate that my husband can freelance part time, allowing him up to help out with childcare and housework and freeing me of some of the burdens of the average working mother. Forbes makes a point that "husbands who are successful breadwinners give their wives the opportunity to make more choices about work and family--e.g., working part-time, staying home, or pursuing a meaningful but not particularly remunerative job." Why can't this be true of wives who are successful breadwinners? Does Forbes believe that only men read their publication?
And on an unrelated note, who picked the terribly generic stock photos used to illustrate this piece?
Update: Apparently I'm not the only one offended by the Forbes.com article. The Huffington Post is reporting that Forbes.com has pulled the article from its website.
