Our ancestors followed the "stay at home mom / breadwinner dad" pattern for over a thousand years; and it worked for the most part.
I caught a tech headline two days ago about how single parents / parents who both work in lockdowns are now having to care for their children while working, causing them to be less productive and frustrating other employees. Naturally the story generated a ton of comments from pseudo-intellectuals who think the solutions are: Increased pay, more time off, and changing core business models. But the father working while the mother devotes all her time to their children? Not an option because it's not empowering to the mother!
It would be nice if the pay was increased (or the prices of necessities lowered, or some combo) to the point that more parents could afford to have one person stay home. I stayed home with our kids from birth to kindergarten age, but there were some years where this was a real struggle for us financially (no regrets though, our children are our wealth...but it's nice to now have some extra income and not have to stress about paying the water and electric).
Most households wouldn't be able to live *at their preferred standard of living *on one salary.
It is an option.
My sister's family with 9 children (Insane, yes- six natural and are taking care of 3 more from another family that fell apart) lives on a single salary. Her husband is enlisted Air Force.
It's a fucking tragedy, that. Shit kept getting more expensive but salaries never really rose in relation to expenses... I had an office job in a smallish city for a private, family owned manufacturing country. They paid me near FAST FOOD WAGES for it. It was insulting, and the best raise I could get was $0.35/hr. They company made millions in sales, the owners are millionaires, the two sons of the owners (one of them, the GM, was the biggest fucking asshole in the company) are both millionaires. They said they wanted new blood, younger workers, and I bought it... They don't give a flying fuck about the future or anyone's future. I don't think they even care about the companies future because they won't even pay their "new blood" more than a fucking burger flipper.
Companies are seriously fucked up these days. And this wasn't even a publicly traded one. Capitalism works but I can see why some people are so pissed off. I am moving to a city where companies actually pay their employees.
Turns out our ancestors were right about almost everything, who knew?
Our ancestors followed the "stay at home mom / breadwinner dad" pattern for over a thousand years; and it worked for the most part.
I caught a tech headline two days ago about how single parents / parents who both work in lockdowns are now having to care for their children while working, causing them to be less productive and frustrating other employees. Naturally the story generated a ton of comments from pseudo-intellectuals who think the solutions are: Increased pay, more time off, and changing core business models. But the father working while the mother devotes all her time to their children? Not an option because it's not empowering to the mother!
It would be nice if the pay was increased (or the prices of necessities lowered, or some combo) to the point that more parents could afford to have one person stay home. I stayed home with our kids from birth to kindergarten age, but there were some years where this was a real struggle for us financially (no regrets though, our children are our wealth...but it's nice to now have some extra income and not have to stress about paying the water and electric).
Most households wouldn't be able to live on one salary so one of the parents not working isn't an option period.
Most households wouldn't be able to live *at their preferred standard of living *on one salary.
It is an option.
My sister's family with 9 children (Insane, yes- six natural and are taking care of 3 more from another family that fell apart) lives on a single salary. Her husband is enlisted Air Force.
in middle america
rent in commiefornia is $3000/month
i too could live easy in a $40,000 house in deep rural nebraska if my spouse was earning a wage with no overhead
sounds like an opportunity for a change in priorities.
It's a fucking tragedy, that. Shit kept getting more expensive but salaries never really rose in relation to expenses... I had an office job in a smallish city for a private, family owned manufacturing country. They paid me near FAST FOOD WAGES for it. It was insulting, and the best raise I could get was $0.35/hr. They company made millions in sales, the owners are millionaires, the two sons of the owners (one of them, the GM, was the biggest fucking asshole in the company) are both millionaires. They said they wanted new blood, younger workers, and I bought it... They don't give a flying fuck about the future or anyone's future. I don't think they even care about the companies future because they won't even pay their "new blood" more than a fucking burger flipper.
Companies are seriously fucked up these days. And this wasn't even a publicly traded one. Capitalism works but I can see why some people are so pissed off. I am moving to a city where companies actually pay their employees.
Replying to read later, yes I know there's a save button
Its wild, right?