Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between marital status and family income.

Between 1974 and 1994, married couples, with or without children, had the highest adjusted family income (i.e., income divided by the federal poverty line). Married couples without children had the highest adjusted family income compared to other family compositions – elderly couple households, single individuals, single-headed families with or without children, and married families with children. All three married couple-types (with children, without children, and seniors) increased their adjusted family income between 1974 and 1994 by at least 1/3 while other family structures had smaller increases (singles = 16 percent), no increases (single mothers), or even declines (single fathers = -45 percent).

Sample or Data Description
The data are drawn from the 1974 – 1994 waves of the Current Population Survey (CPS, March Supplement). The CPS is nationally representative. The sample size for the analysis is not given, but is likely to be in the hundreds of thousands since each CPS March Supplement surveys around 50,000 households.

Source
"Anatomy of the US Income Distribution: Two Decades of Change."
Karoly, L. A.
Oxford Review of Economic Policy Vol. 12 , Number . , 1996. Page(s) 76 – 95.

FindingID: 8555