Anne E. Winkler’s scientific contributions

Recent evidence indicates that dual-earner families are increasing and that spouses' roles may be changing. In light of these changes, this study asks the following question: how might career hierarchy in the family, that is, one spouse's job or career taking precedence over the other's, affect wage outcomes? Previous research by social scientists has considered related topics, but not the relationship between career hierarchy and wages per se. Using information on spouses' earnings and family attitudes about career roles from the National Survey of Families and Households, this study: (1) describes the likely pattern of career hierarchy among full-time, full-year, dual-earner couples, and (2) takes a first step toward assessing the effect of career hierarchy on wage outcomes. The results provide some evidence that wives who have the secondary career in their family tend to have lower wages than those who have the primary career. Results for husbands are inconclusive.

With the rise of the dual-earner family has come a question of increasing relevance to la- bor economists, demographers, and sociologists alike. Specifically, how might career hier- archy, that is, one spouse's job or career taking precedence over the other's, affect labor market outcomes? The possibility that career hierarchy affects wage outcomes in particu- lar raises an important policy question: Do women receive lower wages in part because they tend to have the "secondary career" in the family? Using data on spouses' relative earnings and attitudes taken from the Current Population Survey (CPS) and the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), this paper investigates the likely patterns of career hierarchy in families and then examine some im- plications career hierarchy may have for women's wages.