ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a particular type of dual earner household – one in which both parents are employed full-time after the birth of the first child. It argues that women’s financial contributions are both considerable and vital to these households at the point of resuming paid work. On average, women resuming employment were earning 80 per cent of their husband’s earnings, with little difference between women in higher and lower status jobs. The chapter suggests that women who continue in full-time employment after first time childbirth contribute very substantially to household income. The majority of women resumed their jobs within the traditional gendered conventions. The ambiguity surrounding the value of women’s earnings to the household is but one aspect of these and paves the way for women to renegotiate their position in the labour market, either by becoming part-time workers, or by staying at home for a while.
