While gender stereotype holds that men should be the main breadwinner in a household, a new study suggests they would prefer women to take some of the financial burden; researchers find the responsibility of being chief earner is likely to take a toll on men’s mental well-being and physical health.

Share on Pinterest Researchers find men who are the primary breadwinners may have poorer psychological and physical health.

For women, however, the opposite is true; the study reveals that making greater financial contributions is likely to improve their psychological health.

Study co-author Christin Munsch, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut, and colleagues are due to present their results at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Seattle, WA.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2009, around 37.7 percent of married women in the United States had higher incomes than their husbands, compared with 23.7 percent in 1987.

Despite the significant rise in the number of women taking the title of primary breadwinner, the gender stereotype remains that men should be the main earners in a household, and, as a result, many men feel they are expected to earn more than their partners.

But according to the new research, this expectation is bad news for men’s mental health.