Men and women are less satisfied with their lives under the female-breadwinner arrangement versus the dual-earner and male-breadwinner alternatives, according to new research.

Writing in the European Sociological Review, Helen Kowalewska and Agnese Vitali say this female-breadwinner ‘penalty’ is marginal when the male partner is part-time employed but sizeable when he is jobless.

The researchers also found gender differences: whereas women appear roughly equally adversely affected by a male partner’s unemployment as by their own, men report substantially higher well-being when she is unemployed instead of him.

Country comparisons indicate that while this female-breadwinner penalty is largest in more conservative contexts, especially Germany, it is fairly universal across Europe. So, even in more liberal countries, unemployed men with breadwinner wives are not immune from the social stigma and psychological difficulties associated with their gender non-conformity.