alpha earner
- a wife who earns all or most of her household's income

Women are beginning to rise steadily to the top in the workplace all over the developed world, but in the US they are forging ahead. New figures show that in almost a third of American households with a working wife, the woman brings home more money than her husband. They are gaining more college degrees and Masters of Business Administration (MBA) qualifications than men and now occupy half the country's 'high-paying, executive, administrative and managerial occupations', compared with 34 per cent 20 years ago. The trend is caused by two main factors, experts say - a growing acceptance of men as househusbands and mass redundancy of male white-collar workers from the technology, finance and media industries in the last three years.

This newly coined phrase “alpha earner” describes a growing trend where the wife becomes the bread-winner and the husband stays home to manage the children and household chores.

Approximately 11 percent of marriages evolve around an alpha earner. In 30.7 percent of all marriages with a wife working outside of the home, her income exceeds that of her husband.