Women As Economic Providers: Dual-Earner Families Thrive As Women's Earings Rise

Abstract

Women's contributions to family income are essential for most families. This is obviously true for the growing number of single-mother families, but increasingly so for married couple families. While dual-earner families are doing relatively well, family income overall has been stagnant or decreasing among single-earner families, resulting in a widening income gap. This study provides an examination of married and single women's contributions to family income. Single women are comprised of those who are cohabiting, in same sex marriages, living alone, with parents or other family members, or living with roommates. In this brief, we consider family income for all single and married women. In the case that single women live alone or with nonrelatives, family income is comprised of the woman's income. Analysis of Current Population Survey data for 2000 and 2013 shows that dual-earner couples have higher family incomes than sole-earner married couples or single women with or without children. Of different family types, married couples in which the husband is the primary earner (the husband earns 60 percent or more of total family earnings) had the highest median family income in 2013 ($101,000), followed closely by married couples in which both spouses had similar earnings ($98,000). In contrast, single mothers with children had the lowest median family income ($30,000). In addition, family income rose among dual-earner couples primarily due to an increase in these wives' earnings, but declined among sole-earner married-couple and single-women families from 2000 to 2013, contributing to increased inequality. See Box 1 on page 2 for a definition of terms. Wives in husband primary-earner families consistently contributed 24 percent of family income, while wives in wife primary-earner families contributed 67 percent of family income in 2013.

Participation of Women in Side-Income: A case study of Iban Women as a Bread-earner in the Family in Sarawak

“…In the modern economy, due to modern life and rising living costs, dual-income families are growing, and women are transitioning to economic activities as workforce and part-timers. The position of women in the family and society at large has shifted due to rising in women's education, employment, and earnings (Smith, 2015). Women's roles are not limited to traditional roles; they play crucial roles as bread-earner to contribute to family income, whether married, single, or even single mothers.…”

The Role of Trust and Forgiveness in Marital Intimacy on Husbands or Wives of Dual-Earner Couples in Surabaya

“…Dual-earner couple is a married couple in which both husband and wife decide to earn a living (Medved, 2015). Dual-earner couples tend to have a fairly good income (Smith, 2015). On the other hand, dual-earner couples are expected to balance their work and other dimensions of life, including their spouse and family.…”

Bargaining Bonus or Breadwinning Burden? Wives’ Relative Earnings, Childrearing, and Depression

“…Contemporary wives in heterosexual marriages make greater contributions to household earnings than ever before (Raley, Mattingly, and Bianchi 2006; Schwartz 2010; Smith 2015; Sorenson 2004). In light of continued gender inequalities in the division of childrearing and household tasks (Bianchi et al 2012; Raley, Bianchi, and Wang 2012) and limited policy supports for U.S. parents (Glass, Simon, and Andersson 2016), wives’ increased contributions to household earnings raise questions about the balance of earnings between spouses and mothers’ mental health.…”