Women are bringing home more money than ever, but new research suggests relationship dynamics have not necessarily caught up with their paychecks. According to a 2026 study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, researchers examined 544,911 married and cohabiting couples across 29 high income countries using data collected between 2004 and 2020. The study classified female breadwinners as women earning more than 60 percent of a couple’s combined earnings.
The numbers were hard to ignore. Female breadwinners represented 14.9 percent of couples in the full sample, while male breadwinner households represented 53.5 percent. An analysis of the findings by the Institute for Family Studies found that after accounting for education, parenthood, homeownership, and whether couples were married or cohabiting, female breadwinner couples were 36 percent more likely to separate than male breadwinner couples. Equal-earning couples were about 6 percent more likely to separate.
Children appeared to make the gap even larger. The researchers found that among couples with children, female breadwinners were 49 percent more likely to separate than comparable male breadwinner couples. Among couples without dependent children, the increased risk was 23 percent. The authors said that pattern is consistent with work and family conflict playing a role, although they stressed that it does not fully explain the relationship between women’s higher earnings and separation.
Perhaps more surprising, national attitudes about gender did not erase the pattern. Researchers tested views including whether people agreed that “a man’s primary role is to be the breadwinner,” whether they believed “children suffer when mothers work,” and whether “employed mothers can develop relationships with their children that are as warm and secure as those of stay-at-home mothers.” According to the Institute for Family Studies analysis, female breadwinner couples still showed higher separation rates regardless of how widely those beliefs were held. The primary study similarly concluded that existing explanations remain incomplete.
For Black women, the conversation carries particular weight. According to Pew Research Center’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the percentage of opposite sex marriages with a wife serving as the sole or primary breadwinner rose from 5 percent in 1972 to 16 percent in 2022. Black wives stood out even more. Roughly 26 percent of Black wives out-earned their husbands, compared with 17 percent of White wives, 14 percent of Asian wives, and 13 percent of Hispanic wives.
Celebrity divorces offer a visible look at the financial side of that changing reality, although they should not be treated as proof of the study’s findings. Public records do not provide enough information to determine whether every celebrity woman met the researchers’ exact 60 percent breadwinner threshold throughout her marriage. What they do show is how large the financial obligations can become when a successful Black woman enters divorce with substantial income or wealth.
Kandi Burruss is one of the newest examples. Burruss and Todd Tucker finalized their divorce in March 2026 after 11 years of marriage. Us Weekly’s review of the settlement reported that Burruss agreed to pay Tucker approximately $426,000 as a lump sum, while both permanently walked away from spousal support and child support. The payment was tied to the division of marital assets rather than alimony. Third-party wealth tracker Celebrity Net Worth currently estimates Burruss at $20 million, while estimating Tucker at about $400,000.
Mary J. Blige faced a more traditional spousal support fight during her divorce from former manager Martin “Kendu” Isaacs. According to Entertainment Tonight’s review of court documents, a judge ordered Blige to pay Isaacs $30,000 per month in temporary spousal support, plus $135,000 in retroactive support and $100,000 toward attorney and expert fees. Blige and Isaacs eventually settled outside court in 2018, meaning the temporary $30,000 figure should not be described as permanent alimony. Celebrity Net Worth currently estimates Blige’s wealth at approximately $20 million.
Mel B also faced a major support order during her divorce from Stephen Belafonte. The former Spice Girl was ordered to pay Belafonte $40,000 per month in temporary spousal support, along with $140,000 in attorney and forensic fees. Their divorce was later finalized after a decade of marriage. Celebrity Net Worth currently estimates Mel B’s net worth at approximately $10 million.
Halle Berry’s divorce from Olivier Martinez involved child support rather than alimony. According to the Los Angeles Times, citing their Los Angeles County Superior Court dissolution document, Berry agreed to pay Martinez $8,000 per month in child support, plus 4.3 percent of any annual income she receives above $2 million. The agreement also placed additional education and extracurricular expenses on Berry. Celebrity Net Worth currently estimates the Oscar winner’s wealth at $100 million.
For Black women, who are already more likely than women in other major racial and ethnic groups to out-earn their husbands, the findings raise a bigger question about whether income, domestic labor, parenting pressure, identity, and expectations inside relationships are evolving at the same speed as women’s earning power.
