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Working wives { September 1 1998 }

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   http://www.cnn.com/US/9809/01/family.income/

http://www.cnn.com/US/9809/01/family.income/

Household income rise linked to working wives
September 1, 1998
Web posted at: 8:29 a.m. EDT (1229 GMT)
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Number of working wives soars
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The contribution of America's working wives and mothers has accounted for the bulk of the increase in household income in recent decades.

A new Census Bureau analysis shows the incomes of married couples with children increased by 25.3 percent between 1969 and 1996.

But women have increasingly joined the work force. If their income is not counted, the increase in household income is just 1.5 percent, according to the report.

The Census statisticians sought to determine why median household income rose a modest 6.3 percent -- from $33,072 to $35,172 -- while per capita income leaped 51 percent -- from $11,975 to $18,136.

They used constant 1996 dollars, which removes the effect of inflation.

They found major changes in household composition, including increases in the number of single-person households and both men and women raising children without a spouse present.


Number of working wives soars
Among the changes was the increase in the proportion of wives working full-time, year-round. That climbed from 17 percent to 39 percent in households with children.

Married-couple households with no children and working wives increased from 42 percent to 60 percent when a householder was under 40 years old, and from 31 percent to 46 percent when a householder was 40 to 64 years old.

Looking at such households' earnings, married-couple households without children also had substantial gains in median income between 1969 and 1996. Again, the increased importance of the income of the wife was evident, the report noted.

Among such households with someone under 65 years old, median income increased by 34 percent over the period, but only by about 16 percent when the earnings of wives were excluded.

The median is the midpoint figure, meaning half made more and half less.

Among other findings:


The average income of households at or below the median grew by only 3.9 percent between 1969 and 1996, while the average income of households above the median grew by 30 percent.


In households with incomes above the median, the proportion of people 25 years old and over with a college degree grew from 16 percent to 33 percent. In households with incomes below the median, the proportion of those 25 years old and over with a college degree grew from 5 percent to 11 percent.


There was a decline in the number of married-couple households with children (from 41 percent to 26 percent of households), an increase in the number of households with children but no spouse present (from 6 percent to 11 percent) and an increase in one-person households (from 17 percent to 25 percent).


The median income of households with a female householder with children and no spouse rose by 10 percent between 1969 and 1996, but the median income of households with a male householder with children and no spouse fell by 8 percent.


Married-couple households with a householder 65 years old or over had substantial gains in median income, increasing 57 percent (34 percent when the income of wives was excluded).


Among one-person households with a householder 65 years old or over, the median income of both men and women rose 63 percent.

Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.




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