The Great Recession May Be Over, but American Families Are Working Harder than Ever

July 8, 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages

Part of our nation’s allure has been the American dream — the potential for each generation to do better than the last. New evidence by The Hamilton Project suggests that working Americans are experiencing wage stagnation — or even wage decline — putting the American Dream at risk for many families.  Although median earnings for two-parent families have increased 23 percent since 1975, the evidence suggests that these gains are a result of additional hours worked rather than higher wages. In 2009, the typical two-parent family worked 26 percent longer than the typical family in 1975, with a significant amount of this overtime coming from additional work by women outside of the home. In fact, among two-parent families with median earnings, the hours of men were relatively constant over time, while hours worked by women more than doubled from 1975 to 2009. While single parent families have experienced substantial wage increases, largely due to rising labor force participation among women, median earnings are still less than one-fourth that of a two-parent family.

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