Sometimes these are real concerns. Just as often they are imagined. Leah Gary of Las Cruces, New Mexico, says she believes her marriage has benefited greatly because she does not work outside the home and can, therefore, spend far more time with her husband. Masculinity is not determined by a paycheck nor is it demeaned by taking on the child-rearing role. There is no definitive answer to whether spouses who work the home are taken for granted or are more revered.
Testimonies abound to support both sides of the claim.
What's important is that you discuss the matter in detail with your spouse before you embark on this new path. Living on a single income is a doomed prospect if both partners aren't behind the goals, aren't in agreement about how the family will benefit, aren't willing to pull together to make the lifestyle work, and aren't fully supportive of the role each partner plays in the arrangement. For most young couples, part of that support is an understanding that adopting the single-income lifestyle is not a confession that the family wants the clocks rolled back to the age of June and Ward Cleaver. Research indicates that only a small percentage of young Americans would be happy in the strictly defined, stereotypical roles of the past. And spouses who work the home but who must grovel for the expenditures they need to make are going to feel like prisoners caught in a trap rather than partners contributing to a shared dream.