The phrase “bring home the bacon” means to earn a living for the family.
Example of use: His wife chooses not to work, so Robert has to bring home the bacon.
Like many expressions, the first ideas leading to the origin of the idiom “bring home the bacon” can be found in medieval England, where bacon was highly prized. The phrase itself though, has been attributed to an article in an American newspaper, The Post-Standard, dated September 4th of 1906: “Before the fight Gans received a telegram from his mother: ‘Joe, the eyes of the world are on you. Everybody says you ought to win. Peter Jackson will tell me the news and you bring home the bacon.”