ABSTRACT
Once upon a time, not so long ago, the rules were clear in both the market and the family: men went to work and women stayed at home, particularly when the men became husbands and fathers and the women became wives and mothers.2 In the 1970s3 and before, there was a dominant model of the family built on marriage between a stereotypical breadwinner and homemaker: the former invariably male and the latter female. During marriage the wife cared for the family, in return she was financially supported by her husband and on divorce her expectation was that this support would continue in the form of ex-spousal maintenance.4 This gendered model from family law was reflected in employment law where men were full-time workers, earning a family wage and women, if they worked at all, did so for ‘pin money’ and often part time. The ideal employee was full time, permanent and male and the ideal wife was committed to caring for her family.
