A person or thing that earns money or generates profit, or someone employed for wages.
From English 'earn' (to receive payment) + '-er' (agent suffix indicating someone who does something). The suffix creates a noun for an active participant.
In Victorian times, 'breadwinner' was gendered (always a man), but 'earner' is neutral—language evolved to reflect women's economic participation, showing how vocabulary silently encodes social change and prejudice.
Historically 'earner' defaulted male; women's paid labor was secondary/supplemental. 'Breadwinner' encoded male identity. This gendered economic language shaped policy and family law.
Use 'earner' for all regardless of gender. If context requires family role, use 'primary earner'/'secondary earner' or 'co-earner' to avoid gendered assumption.
["wage earner","income earner","primary/secondary earner (context-specific)"]
Women's historical exclusion from 'earner' identity was economic erasure; centering 'earner' neutrally reclaims women's economic agency.
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