3 ms·

Of course I have heard the phrase. I am asking if anyone has data to back it up. edit to add: I am not specifically interested in the middle class, which is il

Of course I have heard the phrase. I am asking if anyone has data to back it up. edit to add: I am not specifically interested in the middle class, which is ill-defined. I am interested in the overall income of households and how that has changed.

truculent 3y ago
Elizabeth Warren wrote a book in 2003 (The Two-Income Trap) on this topic. I will admit that I haven’t read it, but I assume that has some solid references.
- mcculley 3y ago
  I have also not read the book, so I will not make any assumptions about it. My understanding is that throughout history, most households had at least two people working/earning (many homes were farms). Then we get some television shows in the 50s-70s that show how well the upper middle class lived. Now in 2023 we have people thinking that everyone in the past lived as well.
  - pengaru 3y ago
    > My understanding is that throughout history, most households had at least two people working/earning (many homes were farms). Then we get some television shows in the 50s-70s that show how well the upper middle class lived. Now in 2023 we have people thinking that everyone in the past lived as well. Prior to womens liberation in the USA, it was a very different scene for the ladies my man. The people who lived through this stuff are still alive, just talk to some old folks about it ffs. You're acting like ubiquitous stay at home mothers are a myth promulgated by television. There was a time when that was the primary form of employment for women. Men were paid well, and they supported their wives and families. I'm a late Gen-Xer who grew up in a pretty average part of a fly-over midwest state. Even then it wasn't too unusual to meet housewives during the whole dating and meeting parents phase of life. We're not talking high class demographics here. My parents are Italian immigrants with limited means and even they did the traditional patriarchy with her staying home. Mom only pursued employment once when dad got injured so bad he was laid up for an entire year, and it was a big ass deal. Concrete construction worker, blue collar AF. I'd estimate ~50% of the homes on my childhood block were stay at home moms. It was already trending towards dual income everywhere, but it wasn't always that way at all.
    - mcculley 3y ago
      I am also a Gen-Xer (born 1972). I am also of course aware that many women in middle class households had no income. I am asking about households in general, especially those below middle class. Obviously, men who were paid well could keep a wife at home. Most men were not paid that well. Again, if anyone has any data or statistics, I am interested in that, not anecdata from those who were born into the middle or upper middle class.

truculent 3y ago

Elizabeth Warren wrote a book in 2003 (The Two-Income Trap) on this topic. I will admit that I haven’t read it, but I assume that has some solid references.

mcculley 3y ago
I have also not read the book, so I will not make any assumptions about it. My understanding is that throughout history, most households had at least two people working/earning (many homes were farms). Then we get some television shows in the 50s-70s that show how well the upper middle class lived. Now in 2023 we have people thinking that everyone in the past lived as well.
- pengaru 3y ago
  > My understanding is that throughout history, most households had at least two people working/earning (many homes were farms). Then we get some television shows in the 50s-70s that show how well the upper middle class lived. Now in 2023 we have people thinking that everyone in the past lived as well. Prior to womens liberation in the USA, it was a very different scene for the ladies my man. The people who lived through this stuff are still alive, just talk to some old folks about it ffs. You're acting like ubiquitous stay at home mothers are a myth promulgated by television. There was a time when that was the primary form of employment for women. Men were paid well, and they supported their wives and families. I'm a late Gen-Xer who grew up in a pretty average part of a fly-over midwest state. Even then it wasn't too unusual to meet housewives during the whole dating and meeting parents phase of life. We're not talking high class demographics here. My parents are Italian immigrants with limited means and even they did the traditional patriarchy with her staying home. Mom only pursued employment once when dad got injured so bad he was laid up for an entire year, and it was a big ass deal. Concrete construction worker, blue collar AF. I'd estimate ~50% of the homes on my childhood block were stay at home moms. It was already trending towards dual income everywhere, but it wasn't always that way at all.
  - mcculley 3y ago
    I am also a Gen-Xer (born 1972). I am also of course aware that many women in middle class households had no income. I am asking about households in general, especially those below middle class. Obviously, men who were paid well could keep a wife at home. Most men were not paid that well. Again, if anyone has any data or statistics, I am interested in that, not anecdata from those who were born into the middle or upper middle class.