Back in the day the man was always the primary bread winner. Well now more women than ever are bringing how more bread then their spouses, according to an article in CNN Money based on a study released this week by the Pew Research Center. The study discovered that 22% of men– almost one in four– made lower incomes than their wives in 2007. Compare that to life in 1970 and the difference is startling. Nearly four decades ago just 4% of husbands earned less than their wives.
The study surveyed Americans between the ages of 30 and 44 and found that the answer to this shift lies largely with the change in how Americans are educated. In 1970 28% of husbands were better educated than their wives, but now that number has dropped to 19%. Nearly 40 years ago men didn’t need an education to earn a good wage, but women did. That helped motivate this shift in earnings.
While this study was completed before the recession, experts believe the poor economy will only heighten these trends. And what about those adults that aren’t hitched? In most cases, men’s incomes declined when compared with 1970 earnings. However, unmarried women made more money in 2007 compared with the women of 1970.