(Bloomberg) -- Partnered women are more educated and make more money than single women compared to three decades ago.
American women who had a partner made $40,000 on average in 2019, $13,100 more than they made in 1990, according to a Pew Research Center study released Tuesday. The average income for single women, who in 1990 out-earned their partnered peers, has remained stagnant at about $32,300.
“This is due in large part to the growing share of mothers who have entered the labor force since 1990,” the study says.
Partnered women -- those who are either married or cohabitating -- are now also more educated than single ones. Those who have at least a bachelor's degree has almost doubled to 43%. About 33% of single women now have a college degree, up from 23% in 1990.
Still, a global child-care crisis could slow partnered women's advancement. Married women are almost twice as likely as their single counterparts to have a child under 18 in their households, according to Pew, and they are often the ones who carry the burden of the child-care shortage.
Today, about half of all U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 are married, a number that was closer to seven in 10 Americans in 1990. The proportion of adults neither married nor cohabitating has risen to 38% in 2019 from 29% three decades ago.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
