The number of families where only a man works decreased from 49% to 23%
Pew Research came out with an interesting summary of Census Bureau data on American household income:
1. The number of families (we are talking about heterosexual couples) where the man is the only or main (more than 60% of the income) breadwinner in the family has decreased over the past 50 years from 85% to 55%. In 29% of couples, both spouses earn approximately the same. In another 16% of families, the wife is the main (10%) or sole (6%) source of income;
2. Women with higher education often earn more than their husbands. 19% of them bring in more money; among women without higher education this figure is about 11%. Similarly, 72% of wives without a diploma live in families where the husband earns more (among wives with higher education - only 48%). In addition, in 25% of cases, a woman is the main breadwinner if she has a better education than her husband (and in 11%, if worse). Among the demographic groups, African-American women, women over 45, and those without children tend to earn more. African-American women and young women without children also have the most egalitarian marriages in terms of income. Men are most often the main breadwinners in the families of Latin women and migrant women with children;
3. On average across the country, wives earn about 35 thousand dollars, and husbands - 65 thousand. In egalitarian marriages, women and men earn approximately the same - 60 and 62 thousand, respectively. If the main breadwinner is the husband, then his average salary is about 96 thousand, the wife’s is 30 thousand. If the situation is the opposite, then the wife’s income is about 88 thousand, the husband’s is 35 thousand;
4. Even in egalitarian marriages, household responsibilities are unevenly distributed. Men work approximately 44,2 hours a week, and wives 41,1 hours. But in such marriages, men spend 25,2 hours a week on rest and entertainment, and women only 21,6 hours. At the same time, wives spend more time on household chores (4,6 and 1,9 for husbands) and caring for children and relatives (6,9 and 5,1 for husbands). If such families have children, then the gap in household responsibilities is even greater.
It is noteworthy that similar situations exist in marriages, where women earn significantly more. Wives work 42 hours and husbands 40,4 hours a week. Women spend 21,1 hours on vacation, and men almost 30 hours. Household responsibilities are distributed unevenly here: 6,4 hours for care for women (5 for men) and 4,8 hours for household chores for wives (2,8 for husbands). Even in marriages where only the woman works, on average they spend more time on household chores than men (the latter spend more time caring). In families where the main or sole breadwinner is a man, husbands work more and women do more caregiving and household chores.
Author: Yan Veselov
