BLS-DOL logo spacing layout MLR:TED Banner spacing layout
spacing layoutBLS Home What's New Help Contacts Search spacing layout

Accessibility Information

 Originally Published November 30, 2007
spacing layout spacing layout spacing layout spacing layout
MLR:TED Logo

Wives who earn more than their husbands, 1987-2005
spacing layout
Desk Blotter

In 2005, 26 percent of working wives whose husbands also worked earned more than their husbands.

Percent of wives who earn more than their husbands (families where both have earnings), 1987-2005
[Chart data—TXT]

This is up from 18 percent in 1987.

Among all married-couple families in which the wife (but not necessarily the husband) had earnings from work in 2005, 33 percent of the wives earned more than their husbands. This is about a third higher than the 1987 figure of 24 percent.

These data on earnings are from the Current Population Survey. For more information see "Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2007 Edition)," BLS Report 1002.

40 Best of The Editor's Desk is now available in print! This publication features 40 of the best The Editor's Desk (TED) articles from 2006. To obtain a free copy, you can send email to ted@bls.gov with your mailing address included in your request; or mail a request to the Office of Publications and Special Studies, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C., 20212; or call 202-691-5200.

 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Other Publications:
MLR Online | News Releases | Issues in Labor Statistics | CWC Online | Handbook of Methods

Additional "The Editor's Desk" information:
About T.E.D | T.E.D. Archives | Feedback | Publications Home Page

Additional BLS information:
BLS Homepage | What's New | Help | Contacts | Search

E-Mail: ted@bls.gov
Last Updated: December 03, 2007