4 ms·

Feel like you are putting the cart before the horse here. It's not like the government gives you a house and 40 acres for getting married.

Kluny 6y ago
Two people working together can generate more wealth than one person working alone. It's not a controversial concept.
- Retric 6y ago
  By that token so can 20 people working together.
  - KingMachiavelli 6y ago
    Sure but getting 20 people to live together for an extended period of time is logistically difficult. Two people who already want to be/live together can more easily commit to long economic partnerships like buying a house. It's important to note that while people have been getting married for a long time, having two incomes is relatively new and only recently the norm since women were discouraged from entering the workforce until WW2 and up until the 70s. Some argue there is a "Two-Income Trap" where having two incomes did make certain things more affordable for the middle class like housing but eventually it simply drove up the price of housing & other goods. So now a dual income is simply normal and only having a single income is a disadvantage. Therefore it's not super surprising to see single young adults moving back home. In certain super high CoL areas like the Bay Area we do see a bit of a trend towards 3+ communal living (post college) in the form of group homes. While this decreases the burden of real estate prices, in most cases residents are not building up equity in the home since they rent. In some cases they may be saving enough to offset the lack of equity but that's probably not very common.
    - Retric 6y ago
      Single income families are a very recent aberration that covers a tiny slice of human history. In medieval Europe for example everyone gathered the harvest. It’s largely an outgrowth of extreme prosperity and urbanization.
  - DeonPenny 6y ago
    yes its called a company
- tjohns 6y ago
  Marriage does not mean both couples will be working. Conversely, you don't need to be married to be in a relationship with two incomes.
  - dcolkitt 6y ago
    > Marriage does not mean both couples will be working. That's true. But a full-time homemaker usually generates economic value that saves money in a long litany of ways. Staying home with kids saves on childcare. Being able to cook meals saves on eating out. Laundry and cleaning saves money on housekeeping costs. Not to mention all of this labor is accumulated tax-free (i.e. if you work to pay for some expense, you have to pay tax on the income first.) > Conversely, you don't need to be married to be in a relationship with two incomes. You absolutely don't. But the statistics are unambigious. Unmarried couples are substantially more likely to split than married ones. The dissolution of a household tends to be an expensive affair that permanently impedes wealth accumulation. Not to mention that because of this, unmarried couples are substantially less likely to join their finances. Therefore they tend to get significantly worse deals than couples with joined finances. For example two-incomes who jointly sign a mortgage can get a much better APR, than when the mortgage is in one person's name.
- screaminghawk 6y ago
  Two people can work and live together without getting married
DeonPenny 6y ago
Yeh and people are givin that for a college degree yet that is associated with wealth even though married highschool educated people out earn single college educated people. Forget what the government does its generally easier to build wealth with two people than one. Theres more flexibility to prevent failure.
- ntsplnkv2 6y ago
  I'm sorry, but aren't you pointing out the obvious? Of course 2 people make more money than one. Are you saying that the individual that is married makes more than a single college educated person? Also I'd question that statistic - the older you are the more likely you are married and more likely you are further in your career.
  - DeonPenny 6y ago
    Yeh but what you think I am saying is a married high school educated person make more as a couple than a single unmarried college educated person. Except thats not true. The married college educated man alone makes more than the single unmarried college educated women/man typically.
falcolas 6y ago
You do get tax breaks, and a number of other benefits (in particular related to having children). You also get a tax break on a certain amount of paid interest on a house purchase. Plus, there's the whole " allowed to be next to your loved one in the hospital" thing that's overlooked until it's needed. So, no 40 acres, but there are benefits beyond two incomes.
- feoren 6y ago
  I have no idea what tax breaks I'm supposed to have gotten from being married. Our collective taxes went up after being married. Is the tax thing folklore from the era when only one partner worked? And mortgage interest being deductible has nothing to do with marriage.
  - falcolas 6y ago
    I (well, We) got one. It's going to vary based on your number of dependents and your tax bracket. Tax law being so super-easy-to-understand here in the states. /s WRT mortgages, given some of the other threads in this discussion pointing out that something like 70% of millennial homeowners were married, it certainly seems relevant. EDIT: It looks like it really depends on the income levels of both parties. Two well paid professionals will probably see a penalty filing jointly, whereas a single professional income will likely see a benefit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty

Kluny 6y ago

Two people working together can generate more wealth than one person working alone. It's not a controversial concept.

Retric 6y ago
By that token so can 20 people working together.
- KingMachiavelli 6y ago
  Sure but getting 20 people to live together for an extended period of time is logistically difficult. Two people who already want to be/live together can more easily commit to long economic partnerships like buying a house. It's important to note that while people have been getting married for a long time, having two incomes is relatively new and only recently the norm since women were discouraged from entering the workforce until WW2 and up until the 70s. Some argue there is a "Two-Income Trap" where having two incomes did make certain things more affordable for the middle class like housing but eventually it simply drove up the price of housing & other goods. So now a dual income is simply normal and only having a single income is a disadvantage. Therefore it's not super surprising to see single young adults moving back home. In certain super high CoL areas like the Bay Area we do see a bit of a trend towards 3+ communal living (post college) in the form of group homes. While this decreases the burden of real estate prices, in most cases residents are not building up equity in the home since they rent. In some cases they may be saving enough to offset the lack of equity but that's probably not very common.
  - Retric 6y ago
    Single income families are a very recent aberration that covers a tiny slice of human history. In medieval Europe for example everyone gathered the harvest. It’s largely an outgrowth of extreme prosperity and urbanization.
- DeonPenny 6y ago
  yes its called a company
tjohns 6y ago
Marriage does not mean both couples will be working. Conversely, you don't need to be married to be in a relationship with two incomes.
- dcolkitt 6y ago
  > Marriage does not mean both couples will be working. That's true. But a full-time homemaker usually generates economic value that saves money in a long litany of ways. Staying home with kids saves on childcare. Being able to cook meals saves on eating out. Laundry and cleaning saves money on housekeeping costs. Not to mention all of this labor is accumulated tax-free (i.e. if you work to pay for some expense, you have to pay tax on the income first.) > Conversely, you don't need to be married to be in a relationship with two incomes. You absolutely don't. But the statistics are unambigious. Unmarried couples are substantially more likely to split than married ones. The dissolution of a household tends to be an expensive affair that permanently impedes wealth accumulation. Not to mention that because of this, unmarried couples are substantially less likely to join their finances. Therefore they tend to get significantly worse deals than couples with joined finances. For example two-incomes who jointly sign a mortgage can get a much better APR, than when the mortgage is in one person's name.
screaminghawk 6y ago
Two people can work and live together without getting married

DeonPenny 6y ago

Yeh and people are givin that for a college degree yet that is associated with wealth even though married highschool educated people out earn single college educated people. Forget what the government does its generally easier to build wealth with two people than one. Theres more flexibility to prevent failure.

ntsplnkv2 6y ago
I'm sorry, but aren't you pointing out the obvious? Of course 2 people make more money than one. Are you saying that the individual that is married makes more than a single college educated person? Also I'd question that statistic - the older you are the more likely you are married and more likely you are further in your career.
- DeonPenny 6y ago
  Yeh but what you think I am saying is a married high school educated person make more as a couple than a single unmarried college educated person. Except thats not true. The married college educated man alone makes more than the single unmarried college educated women/man typically.

falcolas 6y ago

You do get tax breaks, and a number of other benefits (in particular related to having children). You also get a tax break on a certain amount of paid interest on a house purchase. Plus, there's the whole " allowed to be next to your loved one in the hospital" thing that's overlooked until it's needed. So, no 40 acres, but there are benefits beyond two incomes.

feoren 6y ago
I have no idea what tax breaks I'm supposed to have gotten from being married. Our collective taxes went up after being married. Is the tax thing folklore from the era when only one partner worked? And mortgage interest being deductible has nothing to do with marriage.
- falcolas 6y ago
  I (well, We) got one. It's going to vary based on your number of dependents and your tax bracket. Tax law being so super-easy-to-understand here in the states. /s WRT mortgages, given some of the other threads in this discussion pointing out that something like 70% of millennial homeowners were married, it certainly seems relevant. EDIT: It looks like it really depends on the income levels of both parties. Two well paid professionals will probably see a penalty filing jointly, whereas a single professional income will likely see a benefit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_penalty