Is it wrong to be the sole provider in a marriage without children?

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johnsmith2025

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Hi everyone,
I was wondering, if a couple is ( or will be ) married, is it wrong for them to be a one-income couple when they do not have children?

You hear a lot about a woman being a stay-at-home-mom or a man being a stay-at-home-dad, in which one of them is the sole provider.

But, is it Catholically accpetable for the couple who doesn’t have children to also be a one-income couple? Or are they both required to be working?

In other words, for example, is a permitted for a husband who makes a good living to provide for his wife and her not to be working for a paycheck when they don’t have kids? Or is it a sin to have just one income in this particular situation?

Thanks in advance for your answer. 🙂
 
Why in the world would it be a sin to have one provider? If the husband and wife are in agreement, there would be no sin at all. Even if they aren’t in agreement, the sins would be in whatever arguments/fights they had on the issue.

No, it’s not a sin for one person not to be employed outside the home.
 
johnsmith2025 said:
Hi everyone,
I was wondering, if a couple is ( or will be ) married, is it wrong for them to be a one-income couple when they do not have children?

You hear a lot about a woman being a stay-at-home-mom or a man being a stay-at-home-dad, in which one of them is the sole provider.

But, is it Catholically accpetable for the couple who doesn’t have children to also be a one-income couple? Or are they both required to be working?

In other words, for example, is a permitted for a husband who makes a good living to provide for his wife and her not to be working for a paycheck when they don’t have kids? Or is it a sin to have just one income in this particular situation?

Thanks in advance for your answer. 🙂
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I think the only sin would be in intending to marry without having children, and even that is assuming the absence of children is by choice and not from infertility or similar reasons.
 
Inego_de_Loyola said:
I think the only sin would be in intending to marry without having children, and even that is assuming the absence of children is by choice and not from infertility or similar reasons.
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Unless they both agreed to a josephite marriage. 😉

But to the OP, no, there is no sin in it, unless the one working is pressuring the other to stay home against their wishes or unless staying home causes the one to become lazy etc.
 
thewanderer said:
Unless they both agreed to a josephite marriage. 😉

But to the OP, no, there is no sin in it, unless the one working is pressuring the other to stay home against their wishes or unless staying home causes the one to become lazy etc.
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I would count total abstinence from the marital embrace as a similar reason.🙂
 
There is no sin involved, If both people agree to live under one income. Problems arise, because the Western society in general, expects everyone to work. If you go to parts of Asia or Africa, people would have no objection living under one salary.
 
johnsmith2025 said:
Hi everyone,
I was wondering, if a couple is ( or will be ) married, is it wrong for them to be a one-income couple when they do not have children?

You hear a lot about a woman being a stay-at-home-mom or a man being a stay-at-home-dad, in which one of them is the sole provider.

But, is it Catholically accpetable for the couple who doesn’t have children to also be a one-income couple? Or are they both required to be working?

In other words, for example, is a permitted for a husband who makes a good living to provide for his wife and her not to be working for a paycheck when they don’t have kids? Or is it a sin to have just one income in this particular situation?

Thanks in advance for your answer. 🙂
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Of course not. That’s a decision for the couple to make.
 
Inego_de_Loyola said:
I think the only sin would be in intending to marry without having children, and even that is assuming the absence of children is by choice and not from infertility or similar reasons.
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Right better to live as virgin and be single the rest of your life, or play the field.:o
 
People who can work need to work, but they do not need to work for pay. If you were independently wealthy, the two of you couldn’t morally spend all your time amusing yourselves. You would not, however, have to go get paying jobs or go out and try to increase your material wealth! As long as you spent your time so as to bring about the Kingdom of God, then you’re good.

So of course a couple can decide that one of them will work to meet their material needs while the other does some other kind of work, even if that work is not the care of their children or relatives. That is fine.
 
Ours has been a one-income household since we got married, and The Husband and I have not been blessed with children (yet). While he works, I fill my time by being of as much assistance to God and his Church as I can. My current responsibilities in my parish amount to a 25- to 32-hour weekly commitment, enough to keep me out of trouble but not so much that I’m neglecting my duties at home.

We have never been told that there is anything wrong with this arrangement except by my MIL, but she is a special case. Out of a desire for charity, I will say no more about that. :getholy:

Everyone else—my parents, my priest, our friends—supports us in this choice.
 
To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it,
Cursed is the ground* because of you!
In toil you shall eat its yieldall the days of your life.
Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you,
and you shall eat the grass of the field.
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By the sweat of your brow
you shall eat bread,
Until you return to the ground,
from which you were taken;
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  • Gen
Men will typically be driven to work, provide, protect by nature alone. Some men may get confused with this, but wil subconsciously return to this.

Our Deacon is a retired police officer and his wife is a stay at home wife. She serves him and the parish with joy.

Now, the call to be catholic is to serve God and serve others. I would imagine that if the stay at home spouce abused their position it would cause turbulence in the marriage. However, I would suspect a mental illness if this were the case, and love would be needed to see the spouce through the addiction/vice.
 
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