This week, we had an anonymous member of the Mamamia community pose a question to the hosts of the Mamamia Out Loud podcast.
The question read as follows:
“I’ve been married for six years, and throughout that time my husband and I have always worked. But eight months ago, he was made redundant and hasn’t found a new job since. Nor has he been actively looking. I want to be supportive, but I can’t help feeling like I’m being ripped off. I support us, but it’s wearing very thin right now. What should I do?”
Anonymous is stuck between a rock and a hard place. And she’s not alone.
“My husband was the first guy I dated who had a job,” Mia Freedman said in response to Anonymous.
“The ones before him just had bongs… I know a lot of women whose husbands, in their 40s, have been made redundant.”
While holding a partner’s hand through later-in-life unemployment can help them emotionally, Freedman believes it would be hard not to lose a little bit of respect if it goes on too long.
“You want to be supportive of a partner, I think, but you can also start to lose some respect for someone who’s just at home all day. Even if you don’t want to lose respect.”
