A salary is cash flow, not a voting system. In a one-income household, the person earning the paycheque and the person doing more unpaid work can both feel that their contribution is carrying the family. A good setup does not ask either person to win that argument before they can use household money.
Design access before percentages
Start with practical access. Can each person pay for essentials, see the household picture, and handle an ordinary purchase without asking the other to release money? Does each person know when income arrives and which bills are due?
The unequal-income guide works through contribution, disposable money, and decision power. For different ways to divide shared costs, use how couples split finances. Choose a model after agreeing on the result you want, not because its percentage looks neat.
Count the work a bank statement misses
Childcare, elder care, cooking, cleaning, household administration, transport, and the career effects of doing them all belong in the arrangement. They do not need an invented hourly wage to matter. They need time, recognition, backup, and a fair place in decisions.
Ask what the household would have to replace or reorganize if either person's work stopped for a month. The answer usually makes both forms of contribution easier to see.
Give personal money a rule
Personal spending works better as an agreed part of the budget than as a favour requested purchase by purchase. The amounts do not have to match if needs differ, but the rule should be explainable by both people. A couples budget can show essentials, shared goals, and personal money without pretending they are the same category.
Review the system after a job change, care change, or income interruption. Both people should be able to explain the plan and keep the next week running. That is a more useful test than asking whose money it is.