Who is the Family's Main Breadwinner? The Wife's Contribution to Full Income

Abstract

In contrast to past studies which have focused on the labor inputs going into home production (Sirageldin, 1969; Walker and Gauger, 1973), the emphasis in this paper is on the measurement of productivity and total home output. The questions I try to answer are: What are the factors determining the wife's productivity at home? What is the value of home production and how does it compare with the family's money in-come? How does the value of home production differ among families with different socioeconomic backgrounds? How is it affected by the wife's labor force participation and by the existence of young children? How does it changeover the family's life cycle?