Female Partner's Income Contribution to the Household Income in the European Union

In recent years increasing attention has been given to gender inequality questions in relation to differential labour force participation, gender segregation and wage differentials as well as the importance and evolution of the male breadwinner model. In this paper we make use of the third wave of the ECHP to look at the income contribution of the female partner (of the male reference person) to the household income. The relative contribution of men and women within households across countries are examined as well as the impact of labour market status (full-time/part-time) and position in the family cycle. We examine the extent to which the significance of the female partner's contribution is affected by stratification factors such as education level and the position of the household in the income distribution. Finally we examine the overall impact of the female partner's income on household income poverty and its variation across countries.