EP 71: Tradwife Or Career Woman: Corinne Low on On Ambition, Kids & Equality

“I don’t sweep the floor with my uterus,” asserts Corinne Low, Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.  It’s a stark statement, but her underlying point is to urge men and women to re-examine gender roles around the work needed to maintain a home and family: cooking, cleaning, making the kids’ doctor’s appointments, and so on.  

Low was on the tenure track when her first marriage fell apart.  She was overwhelmed with her job, a bad commute, a new infant, and housework. She was the higher earner of the couple, and the division of labor at home felt way too lopsided.  So she used her know-how as an economist to study the data on how men and women divide tasks at home and develop strategies for how couples can create a system that’s fair.  

Today, Low is a tenured professor and is remarried to a woman. (She notes that it is not a prescription for everyone, but it works for her.) She writes about her research and her experience in HAVING IT ALL: What Data Tells Us About Women’s Lives and Getting the Most Out of Yours, which is a USA Today National Best Seller and an Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of the Year.

💬 In this episode, we explore:

• How to approach a conversation with a partner about re-allocating work around the house 
• Why parents today are feeling “the squeeze” - when time pressures and money pressures hit at the same time - more than previous generations.
• What concerns Low about the “tradwife” trend
• Questions to ask yourself about your career path to determine if it’s compatible with the life you want outside of work 
• Why a job with “boundaries” is better for women than a job with “flexibility.” 

🔗 Visit Corinne Low’s website

📕 Find out more about Corinne Low’s book: HAVING IT ALL

📸 Follow Corinne Low on Instagram 

📸 Follow Corinne Low on Substack

📸 Follow Corinne Low on LinkedIn

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