Female breadwinners are a sign of progress—not an affront to science

U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943.

According to a new Pew poll, women are the primary source of income in forty percent of all households with children. In 1960, mothers were the primary breadwinners in just 11 percent of households.

Most rational people would see these findings as progress, since they suggest that women are no longer bound by the traditional gender stereotypes that have long kept them out of the workforce. They are an indication that gender equality is making strides in the right direction. At the very least, there’s no reason women with families shouldn’t have successful careers—right?

Not according to the (note: all male) commentators from Fox Business. In their analysis of the survey, the hits come early and often. In his opening summary of the research, Lou Dobbs says the Pew study finds “that women have become the breadwinners in this country, and a lot of other concerning and troubling statistics.”