This research examines the phenomenon of the dual earner family in the United States. Changes in the patterns of dual earner families are addressed, and explanations of these changing patterns provided by economic theory are discussed.
Changing Patterns of Family Income Earners
One of the more dramatic changes in the United States over the past two decades has been the growth of dual-income families. In the mid-1990s, the dual income family is more common than the traditional one-income married household where the husband works and the wife stays at home. In 1980, half of all married couples were dual-income. By 1990, this proportion had increased to about 60 percent. This proportion of is not expected to increase during through 2005; however, the number of such households is projected to increase to 35 million by 2000. Dual income families without children in the household in the mid-1990s have a mean annual household income of $54,200, while dual income families with children in the household have a mean annual household income of $50,500.
Married couples in the contemporary period are more likely than were couples in earlier periods to choose partners of equal educational level. This proclivity leads to greater diversity of incomes among the partners in dual earner families, as one partner frequently chooses a more lucrative career.
A century ago, only five-percent of married woman participated in the labor market. In 1940, fewer than one married woman in seven was working outside the home, while 60 percent work outside the home in 1995. Only 17 percent of married couples are one-earner, with the rest having other or no earners.
Of the 52.3 million married-couple households in the United States in 1990, 50 percent had two working spouses, 26 percent had working husbands only, six percent had working wives only, and 18 percent had two unemployed spouses. Somewhat in excess of 60 percent of dual earner f...