A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that most two-parent households now depend on two full-time incomes, reflecting major shifts in family economics, education, and workforce participation.
Just over half of parents in families with a mom and a dad both worked full time last year, setting a record high, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis out Tuesday.
It comes as college-educated women are flocking to the workforce — and as cost-of-living concerns strain families.
Fifty-two percent of different-sex couples with minor children are made up of two parents who work full time, up six percentage points from a decade ago and 21 points since 1975, according to Pew’s analysis of U.S. Census data.
The share of families where the dad works full time and the mom is not employed fell from 42% in 1975 to just 23% last year.
The analysis focused on different-sex couples because there weren’t enough same-sex couples in the sample.
Between the lines: Family work arrangements differ based on factors like race and ethnicity.
The share of white and Asian mothers in families with two full-time working parents have increased throughout the 2000s, to 54% and 52%, respectively.
Most Black mothers work full-time along with their male partners (60%), but this was already the case back in 2000, when 64% of Black moms also had full-time gigs.
Meanwhile, the family work dynamic for Hispanic moms has remained relatively stable since 2000, with 32% not working while their partner works full time.
Hispanic families are more likely than many people assume to be two-parent households. Among Hispanic children in low-income households, 56% live with two parents (married or cohabiting).
Latina mothers have become increasingly important earners. A Center for American Progress analysis found that 40.5% of Latina mothers were primary or sole breadwinners in 2015, and many others were co-breadwinners contributing substantial household income.
Nearly 7 in 10 moms (69%) with a postgraduate degree married or living with their partner are found in families with two full-time working parents.
That’s up from 59% in 2000. A smaller majority of moms with bachelor’s degrees (56%) are in families with this work arrangement, up from half at the start of the century.
However, the same is true for less than half (43%) of moms with some college experience or less.
Couples’ feelings about their finances and children vary by their work arrangements, per Pew research from March.
More than 80% of working parents in dual-income, full-time families say their arrangement is a financial boost, far more than those in families with just a working dad.
But families with where the mom isn’t employed overwhelmingly say that dynamic is good for their kids’ well-being.
