The secret to higher earnings for women? Marry a POOR man: How your pick of partner affects your paycheck



Women whose husbands earn less than $100,000 tend to make more money than those married to wealthier men



But the greatest impact on a woman's ambitions is caused by time off to have children



Women who marry 'poorer' spouses make more money over time, while those who have higher-earning husbands take home less, new research has found.



Economists who tracked University of Chicago MBA graduates for more than a decade discovered that choice of partner is an important factor in a woman's earning power.



But Quartz reports that the life choice that has the greatest impact on high-achieving women's ambitions is the career interruption caused by maternity leave.



Working woman: Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg claims that the most important decision a woman will make is choosing a partner who will support her success



Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence Katz concluded that 'the presence of children is the main contributor to the lesser job experience, greater career discontinuity, and shorter work hours for female MBAs'.



The researchers write that 'any career interruption - a period of six months or more out of work - is costly in terms of future earnings'. The fraction of men who had time out is 4per cent per year after graduation, and 10per cent 10 years out.



But 41per cent of women have had at least one such interruption 10 years after graduation, mainly due to maternity leave.



'The presence of children is the main contributor to the lesser job experience, greater career discontinuity, and shorter work hours for female MBAs'

The study also found that the impact having children has on a woman's career is directly tied to spousal income.



Women who had both a high-earning husband and children experienced the largest dip in income after giving birth, while the effect on those with spouses earning $100,000 or less was much less pronounced.



In addition, many MBA-qualified mothers seem to actively choose careers that are more family-oriented, while at the same time avoiding jobs with longer hours and greater career advancement possibilities.



Gender gap: Researchers explored the reasons behind the difference in high-achieving men and women's earnings over a decade

Among ambitious couples struggling for work-life balance, the message is clear: Someone's career often has to take a hit, and it's usually the lower earner.



Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg wrote in Lean In, her book about women in the workforce, that 'the single most important career decision that a woman makes is whether she will have a life partner and who that partner is'.