A man only benefits from a traditional marriage for about 15-20 years.

Recently I’ve been thinking about which type of relationship benefits men, 50/50 or traditional, and I came to the conclusion that men in traditional relationships only benefit for about 15 years.

The twenty years I’m describing are from the birth of his first child to the when his youngest child is high school age. Obviously from birth until high school he is benefiting from his wife doing a majority of the parenting.

After that the benefits drop off and can plateau. By high school age kids are for the most part self sufficient aside from transportation they aren’t heavily reliant on their parents, at least not anywhere as much as young child is. Their messes are usually confined to their room, they can clean for themselves, and can make their own food if necessary. Mom is still necessary, just not as much as dad’s money is. The man still has to pay bills up until his death while his wife has no real extra responsibilities.

This isn’t necessarily bad but something that isn’t really talked about. Does the man benefit at all? Does he benefit for longer or shorter? Does he benefit during a different period?