Over the past two decades, the percentage of double-income families has soared. But at what cost?
Consider:
1. Dr. James Dobson says: “[M]any women must work outside the home today, whether for financial or emotional reasons. Still, I am here to express in the strongest possible terms the belief that mothers are just as necessary to healthy child development as they have ever been and that kids cannot raise themselves. They require enormous amounts of time and energy throughout childhood. Any effort to become liberated from them will be done at the children’s expense.”
2. Thankfully, Dr. Dobson adds, “there is growing evidence that mothers are questioning the assumptions of the eighties and nineties that led them and their husbands to run faster and buy more.”
3. Cosmopolitan reports: “According to a recent survey by Youth Intelligence, a market research and trend-tracking firm in New York, 68 percent of 3,000 married and single young women said they’d ditch work if they could afford to.”
4. Barron’s estimates that 80 percent of a woman’s salary goes for taxes, child care and other work-related expenses. Barron’s concludes: “By the time she pays for everything from pantyhose to transportation — sometimes in the form of a second car — working could become an expensive hobby.”
5. Nearly 50 percent of school-aged children in America don’t come home to Mom or Dad. They’re either on their own or in the care of a third party.
Is it possible to become a one-income family? In many cases, yes. How?
- Refinance your home mortgage loan.
- Establish a more realistic monthly budget.
- Scale back your consumption of goods.
- Save up for big purchases; don’t buy on credit today.
