I'm not saying women should never rely on men for money, or vice versa. Some situations, such as having a child, depend on it.

The wife bonus merely serves to illustrate how easily a relationship based on monetary imbalance can turn toxic.

As another mum quoted in the Business Insider article notes, it confuses financial reward with respect. "To me, this sounds like funds are somehow 'withheld' from the wives unless they fulfill their wifely or motherly 'duties,'" she says. "I work, but still do more childcare, stuff around the house and errands than my husband...I don't want or expect to be monetarily compensated; I just want what I do to be appreciated."

For Martin, the wife bonus shores up a rigid hierarchy that assigns its women to a lower status; so even if they live in the Upper East Side, they're as powerless in their gilded mansions as other women throughout time, and in poorer societies around the world.

"Under this arrangement women are still dependent on their men — a husband may simply ignore his commitment to an abstract idea at any time. He may give you a bonus, or not," she says. "Access to your husband’s money might feel good. But it can’t buy you the power you get by being the one who earns, hunts or gathers it."

It's a cautionary tale for us (women and men) to enter into financial dependency with our eyes open.

When a couple come to an arrangement over money, it should be governed by love and nothing else; you shouldn't have to earn or owe anything.

'Don’t laugh at the wife bonus – it’s a stark warning of how financial dependence can turn sour'