Economics

Hey Guys,

I wanted to share what I learned today. Let me give you some background. As some of you know Alex is studying economics. When I was trying to decide on his economics curriculum I wanted something that was not dry and boring. I don't remember economics from school and certainly don't understand most of the economic news in the political terms they like to give it in. Whatever Happened to Penny Candy came highly recommended from a friend and she even had a book they were no longer using so I bought it from her. This is a series of books actually, but she only had the one. Alex and I have liked these books so well we bought the whole series of books. As he finishes the books he has been passing them back to me and I have been reading them. They are written in layman's terms and I can really understand it. In fact I understand more about the economy than I ever have. I understand how and why the the current economic situation is very similar to the economic situation that started the Great Depression, why the roaring 20's were actually called the roaring 20's, and did you know that a tip from a shoe shine boy saved the Kennedy wealth? All this has been so interesting to me. Anyway, today I learned about the reality of a two income family. Now I'm in no way trying to put anyone down that needs to work, or wants to work, I'm just sharing an interesting tidbit I learned today. So here it is as quoted from Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

Until the 1970s, most families were able to improve their standard of living with only one adult working outside the home. In the 1970s, '80s and '90s, mothers and wives got paying jobs, usually on the assumption they were helping support their families. Try this. Add up the total taxes your household pays - state and federal income tax, sales tax, property tax and any others you can find (remember that many taxes are "hidden taxes" that aren't easy to identify). Compare the total taxes paid with the total wages earned. Chances are you will find that one spouse is supporting the household, and the other is supporting the government."

So if you are considering taking a job to help out, maybe check this out and just see if that is true. I would be very interested in if this were true, so if you work and would like to share that info I would love to hear about it.

Blessings,

Lisa