WOMEN WORK BECAUSE THEY OR THEIR FAMILIES NEED THE MONEY THEY CAN EARN. EVEN WHEN NECESSITIES ARE PROVIDED BY OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS, WOMEN WORK TO RAISE FAMILY LIVING STANDARDS. AT LEAST HALF OF ALL WOMEN WORK OUT OF ECONOMIC NECESSITY. ABOUT 2.9 MILLION MOTHERS HAD TO HELP SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN IN 1966 BECAUSE THEIR HUSBANDS' INCOMES WERE LESS THAN $5,000 A YEAR. NEARLY TWO OF THREE NONWHITE WIVES WHO WERE NOT LIVING ON FARMS HAD TO WORK. OF THE 48.3 MILLION FAMILIES IN MARCH 1966, 5 MILLION WERE HEADED BY A WOMAN. HALF OF THESE WOMEN WORKED, MOST OF THEM BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC NECESSITY. MORE THAN TWO OF FIVE FAMILIES HEADED BY A WOMAN HAD INCOMES OF LESS THAN $3,000 IN 1965. A FIFTH OF ALL FAMILIES HEADED BY A WOMAN WERE NONWHITE AND HAD A 1965 MEDIAN INCOME OF $2,600. MOST WORKING WIVES WHOSE HUSBANDS ARE UNEMPLOYED OR UNABLE TO WORK WERE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED OUT OF NECESSITY. IN THE 42.1 MILLION HUSBAND-WIFE FAMILIES IN MARCH 1966, THERE WERE 800,000 WORKING WIVES WHOSE HUSBANDS HAD AN INCOME OF LESS THAN $1,000 PER YEAR. OF THE MARRIED WOMEN WHO STOPPED WORKING IN 1963, ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE DID SO BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER NEEDED TO WORK. THIS REPORT IS BASED ON DATA FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, BUREAU OF CENSUS, AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. TWO CHARTS GIVE MARITAL STATUS OF WORKING WOMEN AND THEIR HUSBANDS' INCOME LEVELS DURING 1965 AND 1966. (FP)