Women are contributing an ever-greater share of married couples’ combined income, reports Pew Research Center.
While men remain the main breadwinner in a majority of opposite-sex marriages, the share of women who earn as much as or significantly more than their husband was 16% in 2022, more than triple the share 50 years earlier (5%).
Marriages in which husbands and wives are roughly equal contributors, meaning they each make between 40% and 60% of the couple’s combined earnings, have also increased substantially. In 29% of marriages today, both spouses earn about the same money, up from 11% in 1972.
As women’s financial contributions have increased, the share of marriages in which the husband is the main breadwinner has declined. Today, 55% of marriages have a husband who is the primary or sole contributor to the couple’s earnings. Fifty years ago, husbands were the main breadwinner in 85% of marriages.
Marriages in which both spouses work tend to have much higher incomes than marriages with a sole provider, with dual-income couples earning $135,000 to $145,000 in 2022 and sole-earner couples bringing in around $75,000. Read the report.
