Number of traditional breadwinners in workforce falls

Labor force participation continues to shift as traditional breadwinners leave the workforce or work part-time and the number has increased for women who provide income for families.

The participation rate for traditional breadwinners, or married men ages 25-54, declined to about 92%, from more than 97% in 1970, according to an article in “The Regional Economist,” a publication of Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Meanwhile, husbands who are working part-time has risen to 4%, up from more than 1% in 1970.

The decline in participation is attributed to “relatively less-educated” men, the article shows. However, the number has increased for husbands ages 25-54 who are educated but not participating in the labor force or are working part-time. At the same time, in these households, the number has increased for married women who are educated and who are more educated than their husbands.

“We found that in these households the role of women in providing income to the family is higher than it was in the past,” according to the article. “These changes are likely to affect households’ labor supply and job-search behavior.”

During and right after the Great Recession, the number increased for husbands who worked part-time and had no more than a high school education or were married to women with no more than a high school education. But the number declined for better-educated men working part-time and men working part-time who were married to better-educated women.