We are astounded by the strength of the association.
The following graph tracks the probability of partner violence reported by women against the share of a couple’s income earned by the woman.
It clearly illustrates a link.
It shows the likelihood of abuse increasing abruptly when a woman’s income is greater than that of her male partner.
While the probability of abuse against women seems to go back down to baseline levels once women earn 80% of income, it’s important to note that our estimates become very imprecise because of the small sample size above 75%.
Our data also sampled for incidence of emotional abuse, finding a marked 20% increase in frequency of reports from females in heterosexual couples in which female earnings were greater than male earnings.