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The fading breadwinner role and the implications for young couples

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  • A. Dechter
  • P. J. Smock

Abstract

It is a commonplace that the past few decades have been a time of increasing importance in the role of women as income providers, both within and outside of marriage. Drawing on data from the 1964 and 1993 March Current Population Surveys (CPS), we document the changing division of income provision within marriage and the association between changing marital income-provision roles and younger couples' economic welfare over the past thirty years. We find that the proportion of marriages in which husbands are primary breadwinners has declined dramatically, with a corresponding rise in "co-provider" marriages. Regression analyses show that (1) co- provider marriages are economically advantaged compared to other income-provision-role arrangements in both the early 1960s and the early 1990s; and (2) a relatively substantial part of the total improvement in younger couples' economic welfare over time stems from the shift towards co-provider marriages.

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  • A. Dechter & P. J. Smock, "undated". "The fading breadwinner role and the implications for young couples," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1051-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:wispod:1051-94
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Goldin, Claudia, 1992. "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195072709.
    2. McKinley L. Blackburn & David E. Bloom & Richard B. Freeman, 1989. "The Declining Economic Position of Less-Skilled American Males," NBER Working Papers 3186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shelly Lundberg & Daniel Klepinger & Robert Plotnick, 1998. "Teen Childbearing and Human Capital: Does Timing Matter?," Discussion Papers in Economics at the University of Washington 0057, Department of Economics at the University of Washington.
    2. Daniel Klepinger & Shelly Lundberg & Robert Plotnick, 1999. "How Does Adolescent Fertility Affect the Human Capital and Wages of Young Women?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(3), pages 421-448.
    3. Schnepf, Sylke Viola, 2006. "Gender equality in the labour market: Attitudes to women's work," HWWI Research Papers 1-4, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).

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