Final answer:
The percentage of married women with children and careers in the labor force has grown from 41% in 1970 to 58.6% in 2019, leading to more dual-income households and an increase in high-earning households.
Step-by-step explanation:
Since the 1970s, the participation of married women with children and careers in the workforce has seen a significant increase. In 1970, 41% of married women were active in the labor force, which rose to 56.7% by 2015, and further to 58.6% by 2019, as stated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This shift has resulted in a growing number of households with dual earners, often with each partner in high-earning positions such as doctors marrying doctors or executives marrying executives. This change is a departure from the earlier norm where higher-earning men would marry women who earned less and might leave the workforce temporarily to raise children.
The contemporary tendency for women to return to the workplace soon after childbirth and the pairing of high earners contributes to an increase in the proportion of high-earning households.