A longitudinal study of the relative influence of wives and husbands in deciding whether a wife should work was conducted in Seattle, Washington. A sample of 378 married couples of similar socioeconomic status (SES) was interviewed in 1977, and of these, 349 couples were interviewed a year later. The husbands' perceptions of the relative influence of wives and husbands was the unit of analysis, or dependent variable, and path analysis was used. The influence of wives was positively related to their income, which was interpreted to mean that higher income gives wives more independence and more alternatives, thus giving them more influence in marital decision-making. The influence of husbands was also negatively related to their income, which was interpreted to mean that, as the SES of husbands (as indicated by their income) rises, they are exposed to, and are more likely to adhere to, egalitarian standards. The follow-up study indicated that the incomes of husbands and wives in 1977 had a greater effect on wives' influence in 1978 than did the incomes in 1977, which was interpreted as support for a "carry over" model what states that patterns of spousal influence formed early in marriage have staying power. (IM)