Table 2.

Decomposition of trends in the correlation between husbands’ and wives’ earnings by parenthood, CPS 1968–2015

Decomposition	Change	Explained Change	% Contribution
A. 1968–2015
Observed	.246
Pre-birth fixed	.113	.133	54.0
Post-birth fixed	.006	.107	43.6
Composition + pre-1969 cohort fixed	.000	.006	2.3
Total		.246	100.0
B. 1968–1990
Observed	.155
Pre-birth fixed	.066	.089	57.6
Post-birth fixed	.015	.051	32.9
Composition + pre-1969 cohort fixed	.000	.015	9.5
Total		.155	100.0
C. 1990–2015
Observed	.091
Pre-birth fixed	.102	−.011	−12.5
Post-birth fixed	.008	.094	103.2
Composition + pre-1991 cohort fixed	.000	.008	9.3
Total		.091	100.0

Note: The sample includes married heterosexual couples with an oldest child 0–10 years old. The total may not sum to 100% because of rounding.

Source: 1968–2015 Current Population Survey (CPS).