WAGE INEQUALITY AND FAMILY LABOR SUPPLY

Using the March Current Population Surveys and the 1960 census, this a rticle describes earnings and employment changes for married couples i n different types of households stratified by the husband's hourly wag e. While declines in male employment and earnings have been greatest f or low-wage men, employment and earnings gains have been largest for w ives of middle- and high-wage men. These findings cast doubt on the no tion that married women have increased their labor supply in the recen t decades to compensate for the disappointing earnings growth of their husbands.