People who earn the main income for their family or household.
From 'bread' (Old English 'bræd', metonymically meaning food/livelihood) plus 'winner' (one who wins/earns). Emerged as a distinct term in the 19th century with industrial economics.
The term 'breadwinner' became famous in Victorian and industrial economies when one person's wage suddenly supported an entire family—it's a word that reflects a specific economic moment that's now changing again.
The term 'breadwinner' historically centered male labor as the economic norm; women's domestic and market work was rendered invisible. Post-WWII rhetoric reinforced this as the idealized family structure despite long histories of women earning wages.
Use 'primary earner' or 'breadwinner' while acknowledging all household contributions (childcare, elder care, unpaid labor) are economic value.
["primary earner","income earner","primary household provider"]
Women have always worked—as farmers, merchants, craftspeople, and wage laborers. The post-war 'breadwinner' myth erased centuries of female economic agency and devalued unpaid care work.
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