Median Earnings and Annual Hours Worked for Two-Parent Families

While median wages for two-parent families have increased 23 percent since 1976, evidence suggests that this increase is not the result of rising wages but of additional hours worked outside of the home. For example, in 2009, the average two-parent family worked 26 percent more hours than in 1975, with families now working about 3500 hours, on average, compared to 2800 hours. The 26 percent increase in hours worked mainly reflects increases in women working. In fact, among two-parent families with median earnings, the hours of men were relatively constant over time, while hours worked by women more than doubled from 1975 to 2009.

Longer Hours, Not Higher Wages, Have Driven Modest Earnings Growth for Most American Households

American households are working longer hours—hours they used to have for other activities such as leisure or family time. These longer hours are the main reason why household earnings increased over the last 35 years. Between 1979 and 2007, annual earnings of most households (those between the 20th and 80th percentiles of earnings) increased by 15.2 percent, rising to just under $60,000 by 2007. During this period, the average hourly wages of these households grew $1.05 per hour, while annual hours rose by 289 hours.

A Statistical Argument for Not Being Nervous on First Dates

When you’re attracted to someone, you overanalyze everything you say, spend extra time trying to look attractive, etc. But if your mutual attraction is really statistically significant and large enough to matter, it should emerge regardless of the exact circumstances of a single evening. If the shirt you wear can fundamentally alter whether someone is attracted to you, you probably shouldn’t be life partners.

.. I think there’s even an argument for being deliberately unattractive to your date, on the grounds that if they still like you, they must really like you. Imagine a cliched rom-com disaster [3]: you vomit on your date. This isn’t sexy. On the other hand, someone who finds you attractive after that is much more likely to still find you attractive when you’re puking during pregnancy or chemotherapy [4]. This is somewhat analogous to using a statistical test that makes very weak assumptions (here’s one example): if the test yields positive results, you can have high confidence they’re real.