Dual-Income Families

Dramatic changes in the workforce participation of women and men and, to a lesser extent, in the division of labor in the home have occurred in recent decades. The traditional family of the male breadwinner and female homemaker, the norm among middle-class married couples in the 1950s and 1960s, evolved into families where both the husband and wife often work for pay—the dual-earner family or dual-income family. Dual-earner families include two-career couples and couples who do not see their jobs as careers. Careers differ from jobs in requiring a deeper commitment of time, energy, and education; the payoffs are higher salaries. Thus, despite the difficulties dual-earner families experience because of career demands, the added income can buy many services.

Working wives and mothers are not new. Since the 1850s working-class, minority, and immigrant women have found employment as factory laborers or domestic servants, or have taken in boarders or laundry or performed other home-based jobs. What is new are the numbers of middle-class women and mothers of preschool children who are employed outside the home. Among adults today, dual earners comprise over 60 percent of all families compared with 30 percent with one earner. In 1963, the reverse was true, with 60 percent of families having one earner.

Currently, over 70 percent of married mothers of preschoolers work for pay at least part-time, and one third of these mothers are full-time employees. Their paychecks lift some families out of poverty and permit others to enjoy a middle-class standard of living. Typically, the family income for dual-earner households is twice that of single earners at similar skill levels.

The experiences of dual-earner couples are both positive and problematic. When their jobs are challenging and provide status and autonomy, mothers and fathers feel involved and they experience positive self-esteem at work and at home. These women work not because they are unhappy at home but because they gain personal satisfaction from the job.

However, dual-income parents tend to work long hours and are forced to sacrifice time with their families to satisfy the demands of the workplace. U.S. dual-earner couples work an average of 81 hours per week, and 12 percent of couples work 100 or more hours per week. Forty-one percent of the couples report going to work early or working late, nearly 60 percent take work home, and 54 percent report that they feel pressured to keep up.

Employed parents complain that there are not enough hours in the day—they feel “harried” and “hurried.” Such working parents remain connected via their cell phone, Blackberry, or laptop; many often go to work early, stay late, and carry work home. The long hours and spillover of work into the home drains parents emotionally and leaves them feeling stressed and resentful of their work intruding into family life.