Based on data from a 1960 Census Bureau report, Employment Status and Work Experience, the study provides a detailed analysis of the employment patterns and earnings of working wives in the United States. One major objective of the study was to examine labor force activity of wives as it was influenced by the composition of their families (presence of children and variations in age). Another major objective was to compare the effects of the family composition variables on the employment of wives among various socioeconomic categories. Earnings of married women also are described as an attempt to assess the economic significance of their employment. The author has used a 1/1000 sample tape of approximately 32,500 women, of which 2,800 are Negro, to examine the employment activities of married, husband-present women, under age 60, who do not live on farms nor in group quarters. Comparisons are made of employment rates of mothers and those of women with no children under age 18. A survey of black and white women reflects the different effects of education, family status, and economic need on the two groups and also the black/white differences in wives' earnings and contributions to family income. (EA)