Wives who earn more than their husbands

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Wives who earn more than their husbands, 1987–2011

XLS version of table

(Numbers in thousands)
Year	Families in which wives have earnings but husbands may not (1)			Families in which both wives and husbands have earnings (2)
Year	Married-couple families in which wife (but not necessarily husband) had earnings from work	Wives who earn more than their husbands	Percent of wives who earn more than their husbands	Married-couple families in which both wife and husband had earnings from work	Wives who earn more than their husbands	Percent of wives who earn more than their husbands
1987	32,025	7,581	23.7	29,755	5,311	17.8
1988	32,810	7,827	23.9	30,503	5,520	18.1
1989	33,119	8,068	24.4	30,848	5,796	18.8
1990	33,093	8,221	24.8	30,794	5,923	19.2
1991	33,516	8,983	26.8	30,998	6,465	20.9
1992	33,987	9,715	28.6	31,221	6,948	22.3
1993	34,286	10,000	29.2	31,264	6,978	22.3
1994	35,066	10,184	29.0	32,091	7,209	22.5
1995	34,819	9,822	28.2	32,030	7,033	22.0
1996	35,120	10,070	28.7	32,389	7,340	22.7
1997	35,613	10,309	28.9	32,745	7,441	22.7
1998	35,806	10,467	29.2	32,782	7,443	22.7
1999	36,454	10,548	28.9	33,340	7,434	22.3
2000	37,037	11,070	29.9	33,873	7,906	23.3
2001	36,864	11,329	30.7	33,665	8,130	24.1
2002	36,905	11,765	31.9	33,531	8,391	25.0
2003	36,761	11,923	32.4	33,189	8,351	25.2
2004	36,710	11,985	32.6	33,110	8,386	25.3
2005	37,055	12,215	33.0	33,364	8,524	25.5
2006	37,733	12,601	33.4	33,838	8,707	25.7
2007	37,536	12,570	33.5	33,678	8,712	25.9
2008	37,988	13,104	34.5	33,905	9,020	26.6
2009	36,858	13,903	37.7	32,280	9,326	28.9
2010	36,024	13,798	38.3	31,373	9,147	29.2
2011	35,908	13,505	37.6	31,165	8,762	28.1
Footnotes: (1) Includes families in which husband had no earnings from work. (2) Excludes families in which husband had no earnings from work.
NOTE: These data, collected in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), reflect the earnings and work experience of the entire year. Earnings include self-employment earnings. SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1988–2012 Annual Social and Economic Supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS).

Last Modified Date: November 20, 2012