Updated daily
View our work on COVID-19 vaccinations

What percentage of the US public approves of working wives?

Displayed is the percentage of survey respondents who approved of wives working when asked the question: "Do you approve or disapprove of a married woman
earning money in business or industry if she has a husband capable of supporting her?"

19361998194019501960197019801990United States

Source: OWID based on Fogli and Veldkamp (2011) and GSS

Note: In some years, the poll question varied slightly. For example, in 1936 participants were asked: "Should a married woman earn money if she has a husband capable of supporting her?" All variations
of the survey question, which itself reveals social norms of the time, stopped being asked after 1998.