The near requirement for two incomes to support a family comes to us from the Nixon era. Prior to that time only a single income was allowed to apply for a mortgage and nearly 100% of the time it was the husband's income not the wife's.
As an act of generosity Nixon signed into law the 'allowance' of using two incomes when applying for a mortgage. From that time til now it has been mostly impossible for a family to otherwise qualify, especially for middle class families. It has become "the normal" but for the longest time it was the exception.
Because of this, families have been under more stress and they have suffered untold damage. When a wife MUST work rather than "work If she wanted" then it means that child care is done by outside people which costs additional money. It means that health insurance is by far more critical because if one or the other parent is disabled then the family loses money and it cannot be made up by the other because both incomes are needed and the wife is already getting as much as she could otherwise get.
As the income for husbands goes up the need for two incomes lowers to the point that at some point the mortgage can be paid by that single income. So there is much greater opportunity for all those, what used to be normal things, like child care and even home schooling. Meaning that it is the wealthy who can afford to do such nice things. In such a family if the main bread winner becomes disabled the wife's (new) income can replace a large part of that income and they can still make do.
So how many of us have two income families?
As an act of generosity Nixon signed into law the 'allowance' of using two incomes when applying for a mortgage. From that time til now it has been mostly impossible for a family to otherwise qualify, especially for middle class families. It has become "the normal" but for the longest time it was the exception.
Because of this, families have been under more stress and they have suffered untold damage. When a wife MUST work rather than "work If she wanted" then it means that child care is done by outside people which costs additional money. It means that health insurance is by far more critical because if one or the other parent is disabled then the family loses money and it cannot be made up by the other because both incomes are needed and the wife is already getting as much as she could otherwise get.
As the income for husbands goes up the need for two incomes lowers to the point that at some point the mortgage can be paid by that single income. So there is much greater opportunity for all those, what used to be normal things, like child care and even home schooling. Meaning that it is the wealthy who can afford to do such nice things. In such a family if the main bread winner becomes disabled the wife's (new) income can replace a large part of that income and they can still make do.
So how many of us have two income families?