Most two-parent families now have both parents working full time
A Pew analysis of 2025 Census Bureau data found 52% of heterosexual couples with children under 18 have two full-time working parents.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Most U.S. heterosexual couples raising children under 18 now have two parents working full time, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of 2025 Census Bureau data. Pew said it is the first time that arrangement has accounted for a majority of those families, underscoring how work and family finances have shifted over the past half-century.
The analysis found that 52% of heterosexual couples with minor children have both parents in full-time jobs. Pew’s long-run comparison also found that about four in 10 American families lived on one income 50 years ago.
The share of families with a full-time working father and a mother who is not employed has fallen to about one-quarter, Pew found. The reverse arrangement remains uncommon: 6% of mothers work full time while their male partner either does not work or works part time, about twice the share recorded 50 years ago.
Pew also reported that 14% of working parents are not married or do not live with a partner.
Work patterns differ by race and education
Pew found different trends among partnered mothers by racial and ethnic group. Six in 10 partnered Black mothers work full time, down from 64% in 2000, according to the analysis.
The full-time employment rate has risen for Asian and white partnered mothers over the same broad period, Pew found. In 2025, 54% of Asian mothers and 52% of white mothers worked full time, compared with about 45% for both groups 25 years earlier.
Hispanic families showed less change, according to Pew. The share of Hispanic families with two full-time working parents has stayed near 44% over the past 25 years, while about one-third of Hispanic mothers are not employed, the highest rate among the groups Pew examined.
Education also tracks with mothers’ work arrangements. Pew found that about seven in 10 partnered mothers with an advanced degree work full time. More than half of mothers with a bachelor’s degree do so, compared with 43% of mothers with less education.
Two incomes bring more money and more strain
Pew found that families in which both parents work at least part time have greater financial benefits than families in which only the father works. Parents surveyed by Pew also said their family’s work setup had no positive or negative effect on their career advancement.
The shift comes as several measures cited by Fortune point to heavier household costs. LendingTree found that raising a child costs more than $300,000 over the first 18 years, while SoFi put the comparable figure from about 25 years ago at $165,630.
Fortune also reported that, under federal affordability guidelines, a two-child household would need to earn more than $400,000 a year for child care to be considered affordable. The publication cited data showing nearly one-third of Americans now name high living costs as their main financial problem, up from 3% in 2020.
Parents are also spending more time trying to meet family demands while holding full-time jobs. Pew found that more than half of full-time working parents say balancing work and family responsibilities is difficult.
Women still carry most caregiving and household work, according to research cited by Fortune. Wharton School economist Corinne Low told Fortune that working mothers today spend more time with their children than stay-at-home mothers did when today’s parents were young, and Pew found women perform nearly two-thirds of caregiving. The National Partnership for Women & Families estimated that unpaid labor by American women would be worth $683 billion if compensated.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.