2-income American families are putting in longer hours than ever before to fulfill the American Dream.
The typical two-income family with children has seen income rise in the past 35 years, but not because hourly earnings have increased. Rather, it’s because of lengthening work schedules and women joining the labor force.
Since 1975, median wages for two-parent homes have increased by 23 percent. But over that same period, the working hours of parents grew by 26 percent, largely because of women taking jobs outside the home. The findings are in a recent study by the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, which measures workplace and economic concerns.
“The American dream is for each generation to do better than the one before,” according to the survey released Friday. “But at least one measure of well-being suggests that families may be struggling to fulfill [that] promise.”