Chart: Percent of wives earning more than husbands

RP news wires, Noria Corporation

In 1987, 18 percent of working wives whose husbands also worked earned more than their spouses; in 2006, the proportion was 26 percent. This is according to new data supplied by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Percent of wives who earn more than their husbands (families where both have earnings), 1987-2006
[Chart data—TXT]

Among all married-couple families in which the wife (but not necessarily the husband) had earnings from work in 2006, 33 percent of the wives earned more than their husbands. This is about a third higher than the 1987 figure of 24 percent.

This data on earnings is from the Current Population Survey. For more information see "Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2008 Edition)," BLS Report 1011.