Dual-earner couples cannot match single-earner households’ tax-free imputed income

Evidence

James and Dottie, meanwhile, both have full-time jobs working outside of the home. They would have to hire outside help with after-tax dollars to get the equivalent of the services that Charlotte provides. If they chose to handle housework themselves, research shows that Dottie, as the working wife, would likely still perform a greater percentage of household labor than James. But the amount of Dottie and James’s imputed income will always be significantly less than Henry and Charlotte’s because James and Dottie each have full-time jobs, while Charlotte’s full-time job is working for her family. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 105