Drivers of Change in The Male Breadwinner Work System: A Systematic Literature Review
Drivers of Change in The Male Breadwinner Work System: A Systematic Literature Review

Summary/Abstract: This study sought to systematically review existing literature on drivers of change in the male breadwinner work system. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) was utilized as a guide for a systematic literature review to gather and analyze collected data. A total of thirty-nine peer reviewed research articles, published between 2020 and 2025, were reviewed in this study. This systematic literature review found a number of factors that give rise to the male breadwinner work system in the labor market. The advent of the factory system, labor market discrimination, high demand for domestically produced products, economic changes and gendered division of work, emerged from the study as primary factors that give rise to the male breadwinner work system. This systematic literature review also found that rising female participation in the workforce, changing gender roles, higher educational attainment, increase in dual earner families, and wage stagnation, are drivers of change in the male breadwinner work system. This study recommends that managers and policy makers should enact appropriate and friendly workplace policies that facilitate a smooth and steady transition from the male breadwinner work system to a dual earner system in the labor market.

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