Husbands main breadwinners in 55% of marriages, down from 85% in 1972; women took nearly all recent net US job gains; Women are taking over corporate America.

Pew Research Center found the husband was the primary or sole breadwinner in 55 percent of opposite-sex marriages in 2022, down from 85 percent in 1972. Wives held that role in 16 percent of marriages, up from 5 percent. Equal-earning marriages rose from 11 percent to 29 percent. Women still did more housework and caregiving. On the job side, BLS payroll data show women accounted for nearly all net employment gains in recent months. From December 2024 through August 2026, women’s payroll employment rose by roughly 765,000 while men’s was roughly flat or down slightly. In August 2026 alone, women accounted for 158,000 of the 162,000 jobs added. The gains have been concentrated in healthcare, social assistance, and education, sectors where women already make up a large majority of workers. Women now hold just over 50 percent of total nonfarm payroll jobs. Outside those sectors, employment has been weaker or declining.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/04/13/in-a-growing-share-of-u-s-marriages-husbands-and-wives-earn-about-the-same/

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/04/jobs-report-women-payrolls.html

https://www.npr.org/2026/10/03/nx-s1-5989546/economist-betsey-stevenson-breaks-down-the-gender-gap-in-recent-hiring-reports

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/05/newsletters/trump-second-term-jobs/