The number of families where both mom and dad work full time reaches record high: study

Just over half of parents in traditional families with both a mom and a dad worked full time last year — setting a record high, according to a new study.Some 52% of traditional couples with children under 18 are made up of two full-time working parents, up from 46% in 2015, according to the new Pew Research Center analysis released Tuesday.In 1975, less than a third (31%) of different-sex couples with children both worked full time.The share of families in which the dad works full-time while the mom is a homemaker fell from 42% in 1975 to just 23% in 2025, the study shows.The study also shows noticeable differences along racial and ethnic lines.The share of white and Asian mothers in families with two working parents has increased since 2000 to 54% and 52%, respectively.Meanwhile, the majority (60%) of black mothers work full-time along with their male partners as of 2025, although this figure has actually fallen since 2000, when 64% of black moms had full-time jobs.Similarly, the family work dynamic for Hispanic moms has remained the same, with more than two-thirds (68%) of moms working full-time along with their partners.Education levels also affected family work dynamics.Over two-thirds (69%) of married moms with a postgraduate degree were working full-time, along with their partner, in 2025.That represents a jump from 59% for the same demographic in 2000.For moms with bachelor’s degrees, more than half (56%) are in families where both parents work full-time, up from 50% in 2000.Meanwhile, less than half (43%) of moms who never graduated or attended college work full-time, along with their husbands, the data shows.The study also found that families often had strong views on whether the arrangement was better financially or for their children.More than three-quarters (80%) of working parents in dual-income, full-time families said the arrangement was a financial boost, far more than the percentage who said so in a family with just a working dad.In families w...