For Ursula, whose taxes have already depleted close to half of her income, paying for child care on top of that does not make much sense. We have been discussing the tax penalties faced when two-earner couples marry. But when one-earner couples marry, they get a significant tax break. The singles versus married rate schedules in this situation reduce the taxes of the working spouse because expanding income brackets allow more of that spouse's, most likely the husband's, income to fall at the lower tax percentages. One-earner couples also earn a lot of untaxed imputed income.
Imputed income is the value received for doing work for oneself.
In addition, there are several other costs of a dual-income marriage such as housekeeping, clothes, transportation, and food. Dressing for work can be very expensive. Getting from home to work every day costs money, too. Gas money, subway tokens, or bus fares will be needed for both spouses to get to jobs. Lunch will often have to be eaten out, and without time to prepare supper, restaurant dinners are much more common among dual-income marriages.