Breadwinner model

The breadwinner model is a paradigm of family centered on a breadwinner, "the member of a family who earns the money to support the others." Traditionally, the earner works outside the home to provide the family with income and benefits such as health insurance, while the non-earner stays at home and takes care of children and older adults. The breadwinner model largely emerged in Western cultures after industrialization. Before industrialization, all members of the household—including men, women, and children—contributed to the economic productivity of the household. Gender roles underwent a redefinition as a result of industrialization, with a split between public and private roles for men and women that did not exist before industrialization.

Norwegian government policy has increasingly targeted men as fathers, as a tool of changing gender relations. Recent years have seen a shift in gender norms for the breadwinner role in the United States. A 2013 Pew Research study found that women were the sole or primary breadwinners in 40% of heterosexual relationships with children.