If your s/o doesn't have some kind of income....

[Rangel11984]

I would disagree. I went into my marriage with a game plan of my wife being a stay at home. Then we had a special needs child and she definitley need to stay home. With that being said budgeting has become an important part of our financial health. With a couple of tune ups and a steady budget you can make it work. I mean it does help to have a good income but having a game plan is key. 

[Thomas_Thumb]

It all comes down to communications, expectations and income of the single earner.

My brother and his wife were both lawyers. She quit her job and moved to be with him when they married. She has never had a paying job since although she does a lot of volunteer work. That was 35 years ago and they remain happily married. Of course, her not working had been discussed before marriage.

My guess is the OP either did not have the single income discussion or did but there was an expectation that both needed to work to make ends meet. In that case we are dealing with a deadbeat spouse. That can become a real hardship in retirement if savings are low and an estranged couple only has a single SSI benefit.

[ptatohed]

My wife is a stay at home mom and we wouldn't have it any other way.  

[Horseshoez]

My wife and I were both working when we married, at the time I was earning about 3x her income; then her climb up the corporate ladder started, and not long after our second child was born she was making 3x my income.  Then my income dropped to about half its previous levels while hers continued to rise, and just as she was becoming a little annoyed with my lack of income, during the recession I might add, her company imploded and she lost her job.  We both managed to bring our incomes back up over the next decade or so, not to previous levels, but good enough to survive after downsizing, and then during the whole COVID thing her company was working her like crazy and all but demanding 30+ extra hours per week with no pay; after begging for months, I finally got her to quit.  Fortunately since the start of the pandemic my income has doubled, so she is now free to do whatever makes her happy, even if she doesn't earn another dime for the rest of her life.