Mom and dad are both breadwinners in most families for first time
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
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.
The big picture: It comes as college-educated women are flocking to the workforce — and as cost-of-living concerns strain families.
By the numbers: 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 stayed relatively stable since 2000, with 32% not working while their partner works full time.
Degrees also impact family work dynamics: Nearly 7 in 10 moms (69%) with a postgraduate degree married to 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.
Worth noting: Couples' sentiments 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' wellbeing.
The bottom line: The modern family norm is two full-time gigs, two W-2s and a lot of teamwork.
Go deeper: Working families spend nearly $4,000 annually on health care: Study
