Has the Increased Attachment of Women to the Labor Market Changed a Family's Ability to Smooth Income Shocks?

An increase in a married woman's attachment to the labor market affected her family's ability to smooth unexpected income shocks. Between 1970 and 1990, the sharp rise in labor market attachment provided an increasingly important channel for smoothing shocks to spousal income. As the participation rate stabilized, this contribution to smoothing evened out. In the Great Recession, both spouses received negative income shocks, and access to transfer income became the main insurance mechanism. Volatility of consumption followed volatility of family income trends but at a lower magnitude. Families' ability to weather income shocks didn't change during the 1970-2010 period.