Woman defends being paid a 'wife bonus'

Writer Wednesday Martin set off an online firestorm recently when she revealed the existence of "wife bonuses" for some wives of high-earning husbands, which she writes about in her new book, Primates of Park Avenue.

The "wife bonus" is a percentage of a husband's annual company bonus that he gives to his wife for managing the household and kids and supporting him in his career.

Most people slammed the idea of wife bonuses, but one 32-year-old woman who actually gets one came forward in the New York Post yesterday (May 28th) to defend them.

Polly Phillips, who's married to a petroleum engineer and has a young daughter, writes that her annual bonus is, quote, "the nod from a happy boss for a job well done. . . . in this case, the boss in question is my husband," and says she's, quote, "proud to receive [it] for putting his career before my own, and keeping our lives together."

Phillips explains that after hearing about wife bonuses a little while back, she and her husband decide to do them, agreeing that when he got his bonus they'd each take 20 percent and bank the rest.

She says her husband was glad that he had a tangible way to recognize her contribution to their lives, and that the wife bonus gives her freedom from the guilt she used to feel when spending money from their joint account to treat herself.

She writes, "Somehow being given an expensive gift by your husband for you birthday or your anniversary is seen as socially acceptable, but receiving a share of his annual bonus isn't.

Women are happy to access a joint account freely, but somehow find sharing a bonus, which is surely the natural extension of this, offensive."