According to the March 1968 Current Population Survey, more than one out of three husband-wife families had wives in the paid labor force. As shown in table A, the percentage of husband-wife families with wives in the paid labor force increased in the past 16 years from 23 percent in 1952 to 37 percent in 1968.

About 38 percent of all white husband-wife families with heads working year-round full-time had wives in the paid labor force. The corresponding percentage for Negro families with similar characteristics was 55 percent (table B). Among all husband-wife families with husbands who were 25 years old and over and who worked year-round full-time, the percentage of families with the wife in the paid labor force tends to increase to a peak of 43 percent when the husband is between 45 and 54 years old, but then declines to 24 percent when the husband is 65 years old or over.

Median earnings of wives (with earnings) generally tend to increase as the earnings of their husbands increase (table C). However, the ratio of the wife's median earnings to the husband's median earnings tends to fall as the level of the husband's earnings increases. Moreover, the percentage of husband-wife families with wife having earnings tends to decline as the husband's earnings increase over the $7,000 level.

About 46 percent of all husband-wife families with heads who worked last year as a clerical or service worker had wives in the paid labor force (table D). The comparable rate was 22 percent when the husband's occupation was either a farmer or farm manager.