Marriage or your relationship is a partnership and depending on money, time family commitments, one partner will usually take the lead in providing the income or majority of. And as much as it pains me (as a modern day liberal feminist) to say it, it's usually (but not exclusively) the man. Women get the short end of the career ladder when it comes to child bearing/rearing breaks.
If you both want the nice home life, kids etc... something has to give, either lower standard of living or you go back to work and again usually it's the woman who goes back to work part-time (lower income) or not at all. Factor in extended family/elder parent commitments, school run, rubbish wrap around care for kids etc... and this is just the way it is - (until I become dictator of the world!). Sometimes it's not economically viable for a woman to return to work when the children are young.
Op you've worked before - you been the the main wage earner before, whose to say it can't be that way again one day. Or if not, so what. This is what a partnership should be about, each contributing something to make the whole thing work and at this moment in time, that means for you the kids and home.
Would he still have this attitude if you went back to work and your salary was lower than his i.e. you're not 'contributing' enough? Is he going through the
'I've just got a fantastic well paid job and this obviously makes me a better person than you, oh and my knob's huge' honeymoon phase of the new job?
Apologies - this topic makes me ever so slightly ranty :-)