Between 2000 and 2015, the share of married couples where the wife earned at least $30,000 more than the husband increased from 6% to 9%, according to statistics announced in a press release by the United States Census Bureau.
Married couples where the husband earned at least $30,000 more than the wife decreased from 38% to 35%. Conversely, husbands and wives whose earnings were within $4,999 of each other grew slightly from 24% in 2000 to 25% in 2015.
“This is a noteworthy development, given a broader context of an enduring gender earnings gap,” said Jamie Lewis, a statistician in the Fertility and Family Statistics Branch, referencing page 10 of the 2014 Income and Poverty in the United States report.