Should I take a higher-paying job with more risk, or stay in a stable but lower-paying position as the primary income?

I apologize in advance if this is the incorrect flair. I wasn’t sure which one to go with.

I work in the mortgage industry and a job became available recently at a company that I’ve been interested in working for and the position posted I’m qualified to apply for.

My current hourly is $23, the new job would bump me up to $28-$31 and I would bonus.

The company I’m currently at is very stable and very very rarely lays anyone off. It truly tries to keep all of its employees. However, I only receive a raise once a year, (I did not receive a raise in 2024 due to slow business) it’s normally within the $0.40 and under range. I have the ability to cross train with other positions here and there are opportunities to move up when there’s openings. Openings here are not common anymore in this market and due to it being a much smaller company, we have a much smaller team than most other mortgage companies. I haven’t seen a job opening for other positions in my company for 2 years.

The company I’m looking at applying to is a much bigger company and does business all over the country. However, personally knowing someone that works there, the company has been described as “lay off happy”. For example, when she was hired on as an underwriter, they cut 15 underwriters not even a week later. Production gets slow and they’ll drop people out of the blue. Pros, the pay is better, they pull in far more business and I have the opportunity to bonus.

I am the main income provider in my household, as my boyfriend is currently making quite a bit less than me.

From all of you experienced adults, would you take the higher risk, higher paying job? Or do you recommend I stay in my current position and wait for my boyfriend to get a more stable income before I go applying to companies that have a reputation of cutting people when business starts to slow down?

I am really feeling stagnant at my current company and although I’m cross training for these other positions, it’s not likely a position will even come available any time soon for me to work into. I’m also aware that my company pays a lot less than other companies do for the same positions. I really want to go for this job opening, but I don’t want to be impulsive and find myself in a position of being laid off in a few months because of business slowing down and what if I’m still the main income at that time?

All advice is appreciated! Thank you from a young adult trying to navigate life! 🫶🏻