Wives Make Gains in Pay but Still Lag Behind Husbands

Wives’ incomes have increased nearly twice as fast as their husbands’ in recent years, but the man is still the major breadwinner for most families, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

Between 1981 and 1987, the average earnings of wives jumped 23.3%, while husbands’ incomes rose 11.8%, according to the study “Earnings of Married-Couple Families: 1987.”

That brought average income in 1987 to $13,245 for wives and $29,154 for husbands.

“More of them (wives) are working year-round, full time, instead of part time,” explained Census statistician Robert W. Cleveland. In past years, he said, women were more likely to accept part-time jobs, resulting in lower average income. “Also, more women are in professional and technical jobs, which tend to have better pay,” Cleveland added.

Still, wives lag behind their husbands in income. Those working full time at least 50 weeks a year averaged $18,929 in 1987, only 57% of the $33,305 earned by husbands who worked full time 50 weeks or more.

Recent government statistics for all men and women, married and unmarried, showed women averaging 65% of men’s income.

The effect of children was reflected in the incomes of wives by age. The most rapid income rise from 1981 to 1987 was among wives aged 35 to 44, whose average jumped 31.5%, more than triple the 9.8% increase for husbands in the same age group.

For all wives, those with no children averaged $14,256 in 1987, compared to $13,067 for women with children aged 6 to 17; $12,163 for those with children under 6, and $10,732 for those with children in both age groups.

Husbands averaged $31,636 for those with children aged 6 to 17; while those with some under 6 and some 6 to 17 averaged $29,564. For those with children under 6, average income was $28,181, and it was $27,755 for husbands without children.

While husbands may bring home most of the bacon for a majority of families, that isn’t a universal situation. About 5.3 million wives earned more than their husbands in 1987, about 18% of the 29.1 million married couples in which both husband and wife had earnings, the report said.