Journal Article

Research Spotlight: Responding to a Spouse's Lost Income

Abstract: Does a spouse increase the amount they work when their spouse loses income? Finding proof of what economists call the "added worker effect" has historically been difficult. It seems intuitive that people would be incentivized to balance out their spouse's wage loss to prevent large drops in household income, but economic work to date has found little evidence that this is the case.

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Econ Focus

Publication Date: 2026-02-10

Volume: 25

Issue: 1Q/2Q