Wives' big salaries curtail relocation.

• Position: Job Market

An increase over the last decade in the number of dual-professional marriages, in which both husband and wife earn substantial salaries, undoubtedly has helped fuel recent strong gains in home buying and recession-defying consumer spending, notes John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of the international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago.

A recent survey shows the expansion of these higher income households also is the primary cause of a 54% decline in the number of jobless managers and executives who are willing to relocate for a new position if it means the employed spouse would be forced to leave his or her job. "With more married couples who both have well-paying jobs, it is easier when one loses his or her job to live temporarily on one income without resorting to relocation."

Only 23% of jobless managers and executives relocating for new jobs in the first quarter of 2004 had employed spouses. That is down 54% from the annual average in 1995, when half had employed spouses. "Relocating among job seekers has fallen since Sept. 11, after which people seemed more determined to stay near...