If you'd like to see generational attitudes shift in real time, check this out: Just 59% of Baby Boomers say they'd relocate if their wife got a new job, according to a recent survey from moving company Mayflower. Compare that with 72% of millennials.
"Pre-boomers," or those aged 65 and older, were the least likely to relocate, with just 37% saying they'd move for their wife's job.
Of course, older folks are more settled, but Fred Medway, a professor of psychology at the University of South Carolina who studies family relocation, said in a Mayflower release the generational change is real.
"As women continue to rise in the workforce, there appears to be a corresponding impact on family dynamics," he said. "Millennials tend to have fewer preconceived notions about the breadwinning role and are more comfortable sharing the career spotlight."
Mayflower pointed us to Katy Michael, 34, who'd been working at a public relations agency in St. Louis. Two years ago, she was approached by Crocs to serve as their vice president of global communications in Boulder, Colorado. She and her boyfriend still lived apart, but when he heard the news about her new job, he agreed to move with her. He found a job and proposed soon after they arrived in their new city.
"We could have tried long distance," Michael told Business Insider, "but I think it came down to — we'd be most successful as a potential family by being in the same location." The couple now has two children, with one from Michael's previous marriage.
Here's some more data from Mayflower's survey of 1,000 individuals. Millennials were defined as anyone aged 18-34, and Boomers as those 50-64.
- 47% of Americans say they know someone who has recently moved for their wife's job.
- 58% of respondents said they'd be supportive of moving for their mom or wife's job.
- In households where the wife is the primary earner, 70% of individuals said they would be supportive of moving for the wife's job, compared to 55% of households where the husband is the primary earner.
- 55% of female respondents said they'd be willing to move their family for their career.
- 53% of millennials anticipate moving in the next year, compared to 28% of Gen Xers, 20% of Boomers, and 14% of pre-Boomers.
- Of women in a committed relationship, 40% earned the same or more than their spouse.
- In more than one in five (22%) households (married or living with a partner) women are the primary earners.