Household Income | featured news

Julia Shaw hit traffic pay dirt earlier this week when she took to Slate to argue that twenty-somethings should follow her lead and get married now. Shaw got married at 23, and it seems to have worked out well for her. Amanda Marcotte responded by throwing some cold hard data on that argument, noting that women who marry later are less likely to get divorced and earn more, on average, than their earlier-marrying counterparts.

An analysis of family finances from 2006 to 2011 shows wives in dual-earner couples contributing more to total household income and more wives in 2011 were out-earning their husbands than in 2006.

Americans cut back on spending last month and saw no growth in their income, partly reflecting disruptions from Superstorm Sandy that could drag on economic growth in the final months of the year.

After three straight years of increases, the number of Americans living below the poverty line remained the same in 2011 versus the prior year, but overall Americans' incomes dropped.

Americans increased their spending more slowly in March, raising questions that consumers could be worried about the economy. The Commerce Department says consumer spending increased just 0.3 percent in March after a 0.9 percent gain in February. Income grew 0.4 percent following a 0.3 percent gain in February.

The economy expanded as expected in the fourth quarter while personal income grew at a much faster pace than previously thought, which should help underpin spending this quarter.

In 2008, the median household income in the United States plummeted 3.6% from the year before, and the percentage of people living in poverty soared to an 11-year high, recently released U.S. Census data reveals.