x
Breaking News
More () »

Husbands, wives exaggerate earnings when wife makes more, Census finds

The Census Bureau says old societal norms may affect accurate reporting of how much couples are bringing home -- and they say both men and women are guilty of the exaggeration.
(Credit: Thinkstock)

Married men exaggerate their reported earnings to be more than what they actually make, while married women exaggerate their earnings to be less than what they really bring home. That's the finding of new research from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The research indicates some old societal norms remain at work when it comes to households reporting who is the breadwinner of the family, and the Census Bureau says that attitude could affect whether it receives accurate data for critical research on income, inequality and poverty.

The Census Bureau says its research shows that the income couples report on Census surveys does not always match their IRS filings.

The research found that husbands report earnings that are 2.9 percentage points higher, on average, when they respond to surveys. As the Census puts it, a man making $30,000 might actually say he's making $30,870.

The wives don't exaggerate as much, according to the Census -- 1.5 percent -- but they exaggerate in the opposite direction. A woman, on average, who makes $40,000 per year would report making only $39,400.

Exactly who is answering the survey also makes a difference, the Census says. If the wife earns more, both the husbands and wives will say the husband earns more than he does while also saying the wife earns less than she does. But how much they exaggerate depends on who is doing the answering.

"In this analytical sample, around 1 in 4 couples (22.9 percent) live in nontraditional marriages where the wife earns more than the husband does," study co-author Misty Heggeness writes. She says self-reported earnings data could become less reliable if people continue to be influenced by social norms.

The study is called "Manning up and womaning down: How husbands and wives report their earnings when she earns more"

Before You Leave, Check This Out