Is one more valuable?

No. Of course not. Nor is it the other way around either.

Some study said that homemaker work would yield a suggested salary of $117,000 a year (is that accurate? anyone else know of the study?). You could always compare the bread winner with that number if you’d really like, but it’s probably a better idea not to think in terms of which member of the marriage is more valuable. That can’t be healthy.

To put my answer another way:

The general principle of holism was concisely summarized by Aristotle in the Metaphysics: “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

All the money in the world can’t replace good parenting. And good parenting is much more likely to occur with an adequate financial base.

Absolutlely not. Both jobs are equally important to the well being of the family. And I think the both deserve much respect.

I can’t even begin to imagine having such defined roles, let alone grasp the concept of a partnership where one contributes more than the other…......it takes two. Otherwise it’s not a partnership (and any decent relationship/marriage should be).

Being a breadwinner doesn’t mean they’re a “winner” of sorts. In addition to the other good answers, a spirit of competition is never healthy in a relationship, keeping score is never a good idea. The tables can be turned at any given moment. Imagine that the “breadwinner” is in an accident and takes one to two years to recover. Would that make that person less valuable in the relationship? It shouldn’t, it just means that there would be a change in the situation.

@MisterBlueEyes: I have seen the “study” but it wasn’t really a study. They simply took all of the roles that the typical “housewife/househusband” would perform (private shopper, chauffeur, tutor, chef, housecleaner, etc) and added the annual salaries of those positions that they chose.

Back when they did it, (I think it was in the late 60’s) the annual full time salaries of all those things added up to whatever figure they gave. I don’t believe they took into account the percentage of time and divided.

That said, if there was someone willing to pay my wife for all the work she does, which is probably was more work than I do at “work” I would welcome it.

: )

haha, I knew I got that wrong somewhere. Thanks!

and btw, I like your creative interpretation of my username. ;)

LOL. Sorry about that.