Table 2 Average hours worked by spouses in dual-earner couples

	Couples	Husband	Wife	Wife's portion	Couples	Husband	Wife	Wife's portion^*
	1997				2008
	'000	hours		%	'000	hours		%
Dual-earner couples	3,437	43	34	43.8	4,173	42	35	45.3
University degree
Both	426	42	34	44.8	703	41	35	46.2
Wife only	259	43	35	45.2	496	42	36	46.0
Husband only	318	42	33	43.4	386	41	33	44.8
Neither	2,434	44	34	43.6	2,589	42	35	45.0
Children at home
Youngest under 6	796	44	32	42.3	851	42	34	44.3
Youngest 6 to 15	949	44	33	43.0	1,041	43	34	44.6
None under 16	1,692	43	35	45.0	2,282	42	35	45.9
Wife's age
Less than 35	1,122	43	34	44.2	1,114	42	35	45.8
35 to 49	1,775	44	34	43.8	1,984	43	35	45.1
50 or older	540	43	33	43.1	1,075	41	34	45.0
Class of work
Both with paid jobs	2,321	41	34	45.4	2,915	40	35	46.4
Wife paid, husband self-employed	563	49	33	40.4	668	46	34	42.2
Wife self-employed, husband paid	248	43	34	44.2	288	41	34	45.5
Both self-employed	304	53	35	39.7	302	48	36	42.3
* All increases from 1997 are statistically significant at the 0.05 level or less. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.

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