I am reading the "The two Income trap"
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| Sat, 02-28-2009 - 10:25pm |
I was in the mall today and so I stopped by the library and ask if they had a copy of the "Two Income Trap" It so happened that a copy came back yesterday evening. In fact, it was still in the cart to be put on the shelf when the woman handed it to me.
I find the book interesting but I do think that it is putting the blame on our financial troubles on the shoulders of parents and their dreams for their kids and working mothers to much. The book starts with a story of a couple who both work and the husband loses his job and the family is forced into bankruptcy.
Then Elizabeth goes on to explain why she believes this is happening more these days then when women stayed home and raised their kids compared to the families of today where the woman is out there with the men making wages. She states that when bad financial times hit a family It is the woman that first pushes the idea of going to a Credit Counselor or for her and her husband to take bankruptcy. I might agree with that statement. I think women are more in touch with the money of the family then sometime men are these days. Mine included.
According to Elizabeth "public education is the heart of the problem" I disagree it is the reason for everything.
I also do not think where a family


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Hi Mary Ann!
I'm really glad you are willing to read this book.
I just finished reading it. There was a lot of stuff in the first couple of chapters that, like you, didnt ring completely true to me. I wasnt a fan of some of her public policy ideas on how to fix it. But, there was a lot in the book that I had never thought of before, and it was very interesting. Especially at the end when she talks about credit. Her other book - all your worth - is more practical for an individual family, and it had some good ideas.
I did find her explanation of why 2 income families dont have a safety net to be really interesting. You may not have gotten there yet, but her basic idea is that in a family with a SAHM mom, if DH loses his job, mom can go to work. Since DH will collect unemployment, she doesnt have to earn a whole lot to get the family back to the previous income. But if both parents work, there is no "back up" in case of a job loss. The same if a child or elderly parent is seriously ill - if mom SAH, then she can perform the care, but if both parents work, then one has to stay home, or they have to hire care. I think we all assume that 2 income families are more secure, but her premise is that one-income families are. It had never occurred to me, but I think I agree with her reasoning.
Too funny - I picked it up at the library Thursday and am 2 chapters in.
I think she has a valid point about suburbia in general.
Kris,
I felt exactly the same way as you described in the 2nd paragraph of your posting.
I interviewed Elizabeth Warren when the book came out (for a project I was working on). She has a very kind heart and really knows her stuff. I thought she was also scary right when she predicted years ago that the lack of mortgage oversight (underwriting done by computers rather than people) could lead to a lot of problems someday.
One interesting side note. She said when she started doing the research she expected that the problems of middle class bankruptcy would be all about over spending for status. Remember the commercial that used to run about the guy on his riding lawn mower talking about his house, his cars, his country club membership and then said he was in debt to his eyeballs? She said she kind of expected her book to be critical. But when she began her research she did a complete 180 and realized that most people were not being foolish but were just struggling with no real safety net. She had this one really good quote about people on a tight wire praying for no wind.
I thought the part on housing prices in good school districts or the price of good day care was very chilling. I think her point was that safe, quality education and care for kids should not be a luxury that makes people stretch their budgets to the limit.
Anyway, I liked the book in that it made me think about stuff I hadn't before.
Jenny
When Raymond and I first married I worked at an insurance company Then I got preg with
Jenny,
That is so neat that you interviewed her!
"So many working mom is caused by parents wanting their kids to have good education which has driven them to the county where houses are higher priced and they think schools are better and neighborhoods are more family friendly and safe for kids."
This is actually a prevalent issue for my area. The fight to get into certain school districts led to not-quite-literal catfights over realestate to get into those neighborhoods, to the tune of 2500sf 4 bedroom houses going for 600k or more on less than 1/4 acre of land. (Now most are worth 350k or less, and I don't need to tell you what is going on w/ that.) Obviously I can't get inside the heads of these buyers, but I have a couple of friends who sell real estate and both have commented separately about the push to get into these districts. I think it rings true even more so when I tell people that I'm homeschooling. We happen to live in one of those sought-after districts, and I can't begin to tell you how many people react with "You live in Hickory and you homeschool? WHY?"
Even now, in this economical climate, the houses in those districts are still holding those inflated values much more so than those in other districts. Everything is crashing, but that same 2500sf home might be 220k in another district five miles from me, while it's still pushing 300k in mine. I think the difference in price between comparable homes in equally wonderful neighborhoods with the only difference being "good" or "bad" school districts is very telling, no matter what the actual amount is.
To be fair, schools can't be the only reason, but it's a big one here.
Goal #1 $UCCE$$!
Goal #1 $UCCE$$!
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