The Wife DroughtWhy women need wives, and men need lives 'I need a wife' It's a common joke among women juggling work and family. But it's not actually a joke. Having a spouse who takes care of things at home is a Godsend on the domestic front. It's a potent economic asset on the work front. And it's an advantage enjoyed even in our modern society by vastly more men than women. Working women are in an advanced, sustained, and chronically under reported state of wife