Here is a news realese that I found was quite interesting. Patricia, since you are interested in poverty, what do you think?
Article
How the traditional two-parent family is at higher risk of poverty than a single parent.
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Katie, I found this info stunning until I realized it was describing families in Great Britain. I guess sole "breadwinners" there do not make as much money as some American breadwinners do. However, it would be helpful to do a comparison study in the U.S. to dispel or verify my supposition [perhaps one has already been done].
ReplyDeleteI think the two parent family is a potential ideal arrangement, but I know many moms and some dads who raise healthy children without a spouse or romantic partner. Any single parent will tell you that it is difficult to raise children alone, and that they are tired a lot of the time. I'm tired now so I'll sign off, but I plan to write more at a later time.
I think this is unfortunate. Raising children and raising them well (not speaking from any personal experience) seems to be a challenging task. Doing this with one parent staying at home makes a lot of sense. There's cooking, cleaning, parenting, discipline, etc. If both parents have to work, imagine the stress! You're both working 40 + hours a week, trying to do all the household chores, maintain a healthy marriage, and raise children. No wonder we have 50% divorce rates and children with an increasing % of emotional/behavioral disorders. It's time gov't starts to "walk the talk" and actually make the family a priority. Give families benefits for taking care of their children. Don't think that all families should work 80+ hours/wk and have their children raised by a daycare.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a single mum, I am all for the government's support(not always a monetary support)of a stay at home parent to raise children! While my situation is unfortunate and I will have to do my best for now, I still think we should teach the "ideal arrangement" and emphasize the importance of family in our society.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but this is just poor economics on their part. I have yet to see a media article give a mother at home a fair shake. The single mom receives more in tax credit. Thats fine, but how much of that money goes to paying child care? When we deduct the cost of the parent working IE transportation and child care how much are they really making? My wife stays home with our four children, and she saves our family big bucks in the process. We don't have daycare expenses (think what that would be for four children, only one is in school, kindergarten for a couple of hours), our food bill is less than $125 a month (for a family of six), and she isn't spending anything on transportation to "go to work" since she already has a full time job. Now according to the government we are a low income family, who cares? We make ends meet and are in a much better situation financially then alot of people I know where both spouses work. I don't have a problem if both spouses want to work, I am just saying that the blanket statement of the single parent is less likely just doesn't cut it. What is in the best interests for one family may be very different from another.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing about their numbers. Poverty in the US is scaled to family size and is 30% of the Area Median Income. So lets compare 2 families, the single mom with one child and couple with one child. One kid each, only difference is the family size. The single mom has to make less than $12,450 (gross income) to be considered at poverty level. The couple has to make less than $14,000 to hit the same criteria. So if both families make $14,000 the single mom is not considered to be in poverty while the couple is, even though it is likely that the single mom has less disposable income after subtracting transportation and child care costs.
When it is all said and done the mother in the traditional family could always go to(or back to) wage employment. The second income is optional, not so for the single mom/dad.
Katie, I love the article. It really plays almost a devils advocate to what most of us traditionally think. I am with Kathy though, it would be interesting to see a similar study in the U.S. to see where we stack up. I would think that here in the states single parent families are more likely to be in poverty than are two parent families.
ReplyDeleteExcellent analysis, Lucas. You make several well reasoned points in your response. Looking at expenses for a single parent who is working vs. a couple with only one wage earner, and considering what poverty means to a family are both very valid points.
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