Over the past 20-30 years, what changes have occurred that now make it necessary for many households to have two incomes to stay afloat?
In: Economics
Well, it actually started a long time before that, 20-30 years ago it was unlikely that the majority of people were actually in single earner households and living comfortable lives. People long for the day of a single earner having enough money to run a household, but they never look at the downsides.
Men generally worked full time, but what did the women do? Order a delivery from a supermarket while binge watching Netflix? No, since none of that existed, so they went out, not in a car, multiple times a week to get fresh produce, because they didn’t have the storage facilities. They washed clothes by hand. They looked after bigger families. Ran a household without the benefit of a dishwasher and window vac.
As work got “easier”, and by that I mean largely more automated, much of the manual work evolved, no longer is a gang of men digging a trench, but one or two guys with diggers… But this happened in the household too, anyone can load a washing machine in 2 minutes, anyone can order food online, put it in the freezer and slap it in the oven at dinner time. There was no longer a need for women to stay home.
So women suddenly no longer had to spend several hours a day running a household, so they went out and started to get jobs while still running the house, more jobs means more money. More money means more luxuries, bigger houses. Eventually it became the norm.
The transition was gradual, not a cliff, those people living in single earner households likely found they were not keeping up with their double income neighbours. So 20-30 years ago it may have been *more* possible than today, but you would need to give up today’s standards to get it.
We now have more disposable income per person than ever, but shit got expensive too as it became more advanced. Your grandparents didn’t have mobile phones, or computers, multiple TV’s, gadgets coming out the wazoo. So if you want to give up those things, and live like your grandparents did, then it’s entirely possible on a single wage, but generally we dont.
Latest Answers