Economist uses femonomics to reshape life and love

Corinne Low, a professor of economics at a leading American business school and a specialist in gender economics, publicly described a life-altering shift in 2021: she would leave her husband and pursue a relationship with a woman. Low said the decision grew from years of shouldering the unseen, unending domestic load and watching a partner who prioritized work over household duties. She framed the move not as a rejection of men, but as a pursuit of a partnership where the load at home would be shared more equitably.

Low is known for teaching and publishing research on how inequality plays out inside traditional families, where women often carry the burden of childcare, housework, and related duties even as their careers advance. Her work has focused on a phenomenon she has labeled the squeeze: when children are small, women’s careers stall because domestic responsibilities rise and male partners do not adjust accordingly. The data she studies align with broader findings that the gap in unpaid labor between working-age men and women persists as families balance work and caregiving.

The personal timeline paralleled her research. By the time their son was four, Low says nothing had changed at home. The full financial responsibility still rested on her, even as her husband left a salaried job to pursue his own start-up. The dynamic meant she was the sole breadwinner at a moment when her own demanding schedule as a professor collided with pumping breast milk on congested commutes. After reflecting on the pattern she taught about in lectures, Low realized she could no longer sustain a marriage in which her career and family demands were unevenly distributed. She told her husband she had checked out of the marriage and that if she pursued a relationship, it would be with a woman. The decision carried the practical effect of moving closer to her workplace, cutting a long commute and allowing a more manageable balance of caregiving and scholarship.

Low announced the shift on social media, explaining that she and her son would co-parent while she sought happiness with another partner. The response from friends and colleagues was supportive, with many congratulating her on choosing a path toward greater personal fulfillment. In the months that followed, Low described an emotional revival: daily life became calmer, the home brighter, and the relationship with her son strengthened as she redefined the expectations around parenting responsibilities.

Dating did not immediately follow the breakup. After a period of adjustment, Low older daughter in a later chapter, she found a partner who shared her values around partnership and child-rearing. She met Sondra, an events producer and musician, through friends and began a relationship that proved more collaborative than any she had experienced in her previous marriage. Sondra moved in, took on household tasks without prompting, and after a few months the couple began planning a family together. The pair later married in December 2024 and welcomed a daughter four months ago. Their blended family includes Low and her son from the first marriage, who is now eight.

Low notes that the changes were not just about romance but about the distribution of labor. With Sondra, she says, the day-to-day routines no longer depended on constant negotiation or reminders. The couple shared night shifts, stocked the fridge, and supported each other through the demanding early months of parenthood. The shift also affected Low’s mood and productivity: she reported feeling calmer, more patient with her son, and more able to devote time to research and teaching without the creeping fatigue that had once defined her routine.

The emphasis of Low’s personal journey extends beyond family life. She sees it as a practical demonstration of the theories she has spent years teaching: that gendered assumptions about work and caregiving shape not only careers but whole families. Her forthcoming book, Femonomics: What Data Tells Us About Womens Lives and How To Get The Most Out of Yours, due from Hodder Press on September 25, reframes the conversation around how women negotiate paid work, unpaid labor, and personal life. The work provides strategies intended to help women renegotiate the terms of a marriage or partnership so that domestic duties are shared more fairly, rather than simply being endured.

The advice in Low’s book is pragmatic and specific, drawn from her own experience and her professional research. It emphasizes practical steps such as identifying and auditing all household tasks, setting clear boundaries around work and family time, and recognizing when flexibility at work becomes a pathway to being perpetually available rather than truly free. It also discusses the importance of renegotiating roles as children grow or as families’ circumstances change, including after divorce or separation. While the book highlights the possibility of forming partnerships with individuals who share domestic responsibilities, Low stresses that the overarching message is not that every woman must leave her husband, but that the load should be shared and managed in a way that supports both career ambitions and family well-being.

In reflecting on her life and the research that informs it, Low emphasizes that the goal is not a universal blueprint but a framework for creating fair and sustainable arrangements. The move toward a partnership with a woman, she says, was about achieving a balance that was not possible within the previous relationship—and about finding happiness through a more equitable division of labor. She adds that the core idea of femininomics is to ensure that women do not have to bear the cost of caregiving alone, and that men can and should participate as full partners in both work and home life.

As Low prepares to release the book and continues her research and teaching, she says the larger cultural project is to shift expectations around gender and family. The goal is not merely to encourage personal happiness but to illustrate, through data and lived experience, how households can function more effectively when domestic labor is shared, boundaries are respected, and decisions are made with both partners’ professional and personal needs in mind.

The broader conversation around gender economics continues to evolve, with Low adding a high-profile, personal case study to existing research. Her narrative, paired with the book’s guidance, aims to offer a road map for women who seek both meaningful careers and fulfilling family lives without bearing the burden alone. And while the title body may draw attention for its provocative framing, the core intent is to illuminate a path toward more balanced, sustainable living for families navigating the complexities of modern work and caregiving in culture and entertainment centers around the world.