We develop a typology for understanding couple households where the female is the major
earner – what we term female breadwinner households – and test it using data from the first
two waves of the HILDA Survey. We distinguish temporary from persistent female
breadwinner households and hypothesise, and confirm, that these two groups diverge on
demographic, socio-economic status (SES), labour market and family commitment
characteristics. Among the persistent group we further distinguish those couples where the
dominance of a female earner is related to economic factors and those where it appears
associated with a purposeful gender equity strategy. We again hypothesise and confirm that
these household types significantly diverge, finding that men in the economic group exhibit
low SES, poor labour market position, and low levels of commitment to family, while both
the women and men in the equity type often achieve positive outcomes regarding gender
equity and economic and family success.