Even though motherhood and a happy family may be their own reward, some women are getting an added wife bonus as an extra incentive for managing their household and taking care of their children.
Polly Phillips, wife of an executive in the oil industry, said in a New York Post article she receives 20 percent of her husbands yearly bonus to spend as she chooses, which is her husbands acknowledgement that she has given up, and continues to give up, many opportunities to care for their daughter and home.
Im exceptionally lucky to have a husband who values how important a job it is to stay home and take care of a child, as well as understanding how difficult it is to leave friends, family and career prospects behind to further his career, Phillips said. He was actually pleased to have a tangible way to recognize the contribution that I also make to the success of our lives.
Phillips said she prefers to spend her wife bonus on shoes, purses, coats and the like but also chooses to save it for other things, like her daughters future, as well. She no longer feels guilty about spending money on herself, she added, like she used to when she took money out of the joint account she and her husband share.
But not all wives agree. While this trend seems to be more common than expected among more wealthy families across the world, many have responded harshly.
Wednesday Martin, whose new book Primates of Park Avenue first brought the idea of wife bonuses into conversation, said in an interview with Salon that the bonuses make the wives even more dependent on their husbands.
This trend also mirrors that of so-called push prizes, which are gifts or money a woman gets from her husband for having a baby, according to Mary Elizabeth Williams in an article for Salon.
One issue comes with the way these husbands and wives are choosing to reward each other for the work they do in the home. Heather Landy reported in Quartz there is no evidence that these bonuses are successful in getting results or fostering relationships.
As mothers, as community volunteers and as members of social networks arguably predicated in part on their continued attachment to their husbands, these women indeed have a vested interest in their families success and thats not something you can put on a formal vesting schedule.
Alyssa Rosenberg proposed in a blog post on The Washington Post paying women a salary for the work they do in the home rather than tying her financial success to her husbands. She said by connecting work in the home to the wage earners bonus may not be the solution to the issue since it turns the money into a year-end treat and isnt a steady income for work that is done all year long.
If one person in a marriage is going to take on these responsibilities (of housework and child care), which rightfully belong to both partners, then maybe they should be paid, Rosenberg said.
Polly Phillips, wife of an executive in the oil industry, said in a New York Post article she receives 20 percent of her husbands yearly bonus to spend as she chooses, which is her husbands acknowledgement that she has given up, and continues to give up, many opportunities to care for their daughter and home.
Im exceptionally lucky to have a husband who values how important a job it is to stay home and take care of a child, as well as understanding how difficult it is to leave friends, family and career prospects behind to further his career, Phillips said. He was actually pleased to have a tangible way to recognize the contribution that I also make to the success of our lives.
Phillips said she prefers to spend her wife bonus on shoes, purses, coats and the like but also chooses to save it for other things, like her daughters future, as well. She no longer feels guilty about spending money on herself, she added, like she used to when she took money out of the joint account she and her husband share.
But not all wives agree. While this trend seems to be more common than expected among more wealthy families across the world, many have responded harshly.
Wednesday Martin, whose new book Primates of Park Avenue first brought the idea of wife bonuses into conversation, said in an interview with Salon that the bonuses make the wives even more dependent on their husbands.
This trend also mirrors that of so-called push prizes, which are gifts or money a woman gets from her husband for having a baby, according to Mary Elizabeth Williams in an article for Salon.
One issue comes with the way these husbands and wives are choosing to reward each other for the work they do in the home. Heather Landy reported in Quartz there is no evidence that these bonuses are successful in getting results or fostering relationships.
As mothers, as community volunteers and as members of social networks arguably predicated in part on their continued attachment to their husbands, these women indeed have a vested interest in their families success and thats not something you can put on a formal vesting schedule.
Alyssa Rosenberg proposed in a blog post on The Washington Post paying women a salary for the work they do in the home rather than tying her financial success to her husbands. She said by connecting work in the home to the wage earners bonus may not be the solution to the issue since it turns the money into a year-end treat and isnt a steady income for work that is done all year long.
If one person in a marriage is going to take on these responsibilities (of housework and child care), which rightfully belong to both partners, then maybe they should be paid, Rosenberg said.
