It's a totally rational, bigger-picture thought process: 1. Employer will not tolerate "absenteeism" and will retaliate with consequences up to termination. 2

It's a totally rational, bigger-picture thought process: 1. Employer will not tolerate "absenteeism" and will retaliate with consequences up to termination. 2. Spouse will not accept lower standard of life via reduced wages. Since earning power ("a good provider") is a major reason why many spouses chose to marry their geeky/techie partner... any threat to stable employment is a threat to the stability of my family. 3. Housing is almost entirely unaffordable in Bay Area. Miss three payments and car is reposessed. Miss one credit card payment and score drops 60 points, interest rate goes up to 29.99%. It becomes a simple expected value calculation after that. Would you prefer the 100% chance of losing Disneyland deposit/letting down your kids.... or the n% chance of becoming a homeless, carless, divorcee with a damaged credit score for the next 7 years? To be clear: I'm not pro-corporation/anti-child... but there are reasons why working parents make the decisions they make.