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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In my culture, children care for their aging parents except for the more serious cases. I am a bit disturbed that so many Americans leave their parents to be cared for by strangers (for decades!) and their children to be raised by strangers too (nannies). Smh.
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[b]The sad fact is that most families need two incomes to get by these days.  Women are giving their labor to corporations and simply aren’t available to provide labor at home like the did in the past[/b]

I come from an immigrant family and my mother cared for two elderly relatives in our home until their last few months when they needed a higher level of care than she could provide and they went to nursing homes.  [/quote]

Two incomes are required to provide a very high standard of living.  You could easily live off one income if you lived in a smaller house, one limited driving vacation to see family, no kids activities outside of running around the neighborhood, one car, one TV, no iPhones etc.  Most people don’t think a job is so terrible that they need to live a 1950s lifestyle.  Why would a woman with options want to forgo a paycheck and the resulting luxuries to provide unpaid labor to a relative?  What you’re describing is simply progress and women having better options than they did in the past.  [/quote]
Read the Two Income Trap:
Causal factors
The authors present quantitative data to demonstrate how American middle-class families have been left in a precarious financial position by i[b]ncreases in fixed living expenses[/b], [b]increased medical expenses, escalating real estate prices, lower employment security,[/b] and the relaxation of credit regulation.[2][6] The result has been a reshaping of the American labor force, such that many families now rely on having two incomes in order to meet their expenses.[2] This situation represents a greater level of financial risk than that faced by single-income households: the inability of either adult to work, even temporarily, may result in loss of employment, and concomitant loss of medical coverage and the ability to pay bills.[6][4] This may lead to bankruptcy or being forced to move somewhere less expensive, with associated decreases in educational quality and economic opportunity.[2]

Among the expenses driving the two-income trap are [b]child care, housing in areas with good schools, and college tuition. [/b]Warren and Tyagi conclude that having children is the "single best predictor" that a woman will go bankrupt.[7]

Warren and Tyagi call stay-at-home mothers of past generations "the most important part of the safety net", as the non-working mother could step in to earn extra income or care for sick family members when needed.[3] However, Warren and Tyagi dismiss the idea of return to stay-at-home parents, and instead propose policies to offset the loss of this form of insurance.[6]

[b]Warren and Tyagi attempt to overturn the "overconsumption myth" that Americans' financial instabilities are the result of frivolous spending[/b][4] – they note, for instance, that families are spending less on clothing, food (including meals out), and large appliances, when adjusted for inflation, than a generation prior.[8] They also note that dual-income households have less discretionary money than single-income households a generation prior.[6]
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It's kinda ridiculous that PP had to spell out what should be fairly widely known by most groups in this society. Unless one has inherited wealth or made serious bank through their work, then it pretty much takes two incomes to buy homes in good school districts and to minimize what can be the catastrophic consequences of layoffs. And don't get me started on medical expenses. This should not be a surprise to anyone living it or reading the paper.[/quote]

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