It's The Household Composition, Stupid!

As the endless wailing about income disparities continues, it is useful to examine one of the principal reasons for the differences. Scan the table below from the US Census Bureau for 2011. Notice anything? Like higher earning households have more earners in the household? Now this shouldn't be surprising, but it seldom gets reported. Why? Because the solution -- i.e. get married to someone who has income earning potential -- doesn't sit well with those whose agenda is to encourage even more single-earner households. Nor does the solution probably require a massive new government intervention program.

Income range	Households (k)	Percent	Mean # earners	Mean household size
Under $5,000	4,261	3.52%	0.23	2.02
$5- $9,999	4,972	4.11%	0.36	1.81
$10-$14,999	7,127	5.89%	0.42	1.74
$15-$19,999	6,882	5.68%	0.57	1.96
$20-$24,999	7,095	5.86%	0.75	2.14
$25-$29,999	6,591	5.44%	0.85	2.22
$30-$34,999	6,667	5.51%	0.97	2.34
$35-$39,999	6,136	5.07%	1.06	2.41
$40-$44,999	5,795	4.79%	1.2	2.46
$45-$49,999	4,945	4.08%	1.32	2.55
$50-$54,999	5,170	4.27%	1.32	2.52
$55-$59,999	4,250	3.51%	1.49	2.72
$60-$64,999	4,432	3.66%	1.49	2.66
$65-$69,999	3,836	3.17%	1.58	2.75
$70-$74,999	3,606	2.98%	1.63	2.82
$75-$79,999	3,452	2.85%	1.7	2.89
$80- $84,999	3,036	2.51%	1.73	2.86
$85-$89,999	2,566	2.12%	1.8	3
$90-$94,999	2,594	2.14%	1.79	2.96
$95-$99,999	2,251	1.86%	1.87	3.09
$100-$104,999	2,527	2.09%	1.78	2.94
$105-$109,999	1,771	1.46%	2.01	3.18
$110-$114,999	1,723	1.42%	1.96	3.11
$115-$119,999	1,569	1.30%	1.98	3.06
$120-$124,999	1,540	1.27%	2.01	3.16
$125-$129,999	1,258	1.04%	1.97	3.08
$130-$134,999	1,211	1.00%	2	3.17
$135-$139,999	918	0.76%	2.1	3.18
$140-$144,999	1,031	0.85%	2.12	3.26
$145-$149,999	893	0.74%	2.11	3.21
$150-$154,999	1,166	0.96%	1.86	3.09
$155--$159,999	740	0.61%	2.04	3.11
$160-$164,999	697	0.58%	2.05	3.29
$165-$169,999	610	0.50%	2.15	3.17
$170-$174,999	617	0.51%	1.99	3.05
$175-$179,999	530	0.44%	2.09	3.08
$180-$184,999	460	0.38%	2.12	3.28
$185-$189,999	363	0.30%	2.3	3.32
$190-$194,999	380	0.31%	2.22	3.17
$195-$199,999	312	0.26%	2.3	3.28
$200-$249,999	2,297	1.90%	2.06	3.24
$250,000+	2,808	2.32%
Total	121,084