Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd: The Average Income of Dual-Income, No Kids Duos
Written by
Karen Doyle
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Every parent knows that kids are expensive. But in addition to shelling out more when you have offspring, parents also often earn less. This makes the little darlings doubly expensive.
Here’s what you need to know about the income disparity between parents and those who are child-free.
Couples Without Kids Earn More
Couples known as dual income, no kids — or DINKs as they’re sometimes called — earn more than couples with kids, even if both spouses work. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Data, as analyzed by Rocket Mortgage, the average dual-income couple who has children has income of $129,000 per year. Two-income couples without kids averaged $9,000 more per year, for a total of $138,000 in annual income.
Couples Without Kids Also Spend Less
In addition to having more time to spend on their careers and the increase in salary that comes along with that, couples without kids spend less simply because they aren’t feeding, housing, clothing and educating little people who aren’t contributing to the household income.
According to the Institute for Family Studies, the cost to raise a child to adulthood ranges from $202,248 to $430,928. These added expenses coupled with reduced income result in a double whammy for parents.
What Are DINKs Doing With All That Extra Money?
The dual income, no kids crowd earns more and spends less, so where is that extra money going? Some of it is going to savings, with DINKs putting more aside for retirements than their colleagues who are parents.
One place it doesn’t seem to be going for many couples is toward home ownership. Just about half (52%) of two-income couples who do not have kids are homeowners, compared with 72% of couples with kids. This may reflect the shifting of priorities once one becomes a parent — a safe neighborhood and good schools rise on the priority list once you have kids. And parents may feel they want their kids to experience the stability that homeownership provides.
Owning a home may be what gets parents closer to being on par with those without kids in terms of financial well-being, since home ownership provides them with a higher net worth than a renter might have. The investment in real estate puts them in a better place than couples who rent.
Clearly, there are far more considerations than money when deciding when — or whether — to have children. But the impact of parenthood on finances is something worth considering.Â
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