Across the country, a growing number of married women are becoming the primary breadwinners for their families as more husbands lose their jobs.
Over the past two years, federal labor figures show, the unemployment rate has risen much faster for men than for women -- reaching 10.5%, compared to 7.9% among women.
The dynamic creates not only financial turmoil for households, but emotional stress as wives and husbands cope with a reversal of traditional roles.
Laurie Flanagan of Clovis knows that stress all too well.
Flanagan, a respiratory therapist at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, has been supporting her family since her husband's business selling embroidered promotional apparel went bust last December.
"I just thought, 'my gosh, what are we going to do?' " Laurie Flanagan recalled after two of husband Michael's biggest clients went out of business and spending by other customers virtually dried up. "Thank goodness for my job ... [but] we were still spiraling downward."
Her paychecks weren't enough to avoid losing their home to foreclosure and filing for bankruptcy.
Read the complete story at fresnobee.com