Do Families Really Need To Incomes?

[Country Kids]

Here you go BC, another controversial subject-

On you mark, get set, go!

[blandino]

Some families do, but not the majority. I think it is more of a preference for the lifestyle that comes with two incomes. And I don't necessarily mean a lavish lifestyle. But I think people have a hard time fathoming living without. They consider things essential, that some people choose to give up in order to stay home with their kids.

I have friend's who have given up having a car, in order to stay home. I thi k to a lot of women that would seem impossible.

Overall I think it is a matter of priorities. Not their children vs stuff, but which things they consider priorities.

[bunnyslippers]

In my area, two incomes are necessary. Houses are expensive, cost of living is expensive.

I think we could swing only one income if we had a much smaller home...but it is not a choice I would want to make.

[MyAngels]

Too many factors to really get into a meaningful debate. Where you live, what you do for a living, what your spouse does for a living and many more.

[Starburst]

As someone who grew up in a single parent home that recieved little but some child support- yes two incomes would make things easier when it comes to paying the bills, having healthy meals, and finding productive things to do together as a family. But it also depends on the family and the jobs, some families can afford for one partner to stay home and one to work, and some families need both partners to work. My fiance says that with what he is studying to do I wouldn't even need to work if I didn't want to but I cannot picture myself not working at all- espicually because he just got a summer paid internship and they are pretty much grooming him for a manager position and may offer him a job after graduation. I think that is because I grew up in a single parent home so there is a part of me that knows things happen and its better to be prepared for hard times or to have a back up plan. Prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

[Unregistered]

In my area I would say no. Really depends on the lifestyle you wish to live and location you live in I think. What are wants and what are needs? We use thrift shops, coupons, shop on sale, really watch what we buy in general. Can you get by with one car ( a used not fancy one) or even no car? Freeze in season foods. No TV. No yearly vacations away. Drive through coffee everyday. Make food & eat @ home. No Smart phones or whatever the latest gadget is. Many things that have become routine or habit appear as needs to many people. Without the extras I'm certain many in my area could have one parent at home. Just think of the savings of not paying daycare alone! Then again I would be out of a job As a single parent I love that I can be at home and bring in enough income to get by. We certainly have more than enough to get by on comfortably, but not living large by any means.

[daycarediva]

I think that the majority of the time, especially in my area, no. I have a dcb in my care whose parents can most certainly afford it on one income, Mom just prefers to work. She has said to me on numerous occassions "I just couldn't do this all day with him." She also only works 3 days, yet dcb is full time.

We made a LOT of sacrifies when I decided to stay home/do childcare. I started with just 2 kids at a much lesser rate because my own children were little. We cut out our cell phones, cable, XM radio, my more frequent hair & nail appointments, paid down/off debt, eating out, mall splurges, and only have one car payment at a time. We can now EASILY get by on one income.

I am also seeing lots more single parents and parents who have one/both spouses lose a well paying job and need to go back to work because of the loss of income. There really is no way around dual incomes in these circumstances, they aren't doing it because they don't care, kwim?

[NeedaVaca]

I have noticed that a lot of families live above their means & are always trying to keep up with the Joneses so they are strapped for cash. Then maybe a pay raise comes along-so they buy even bigger houses, better cars and they are STILL living above their means...Many people don't seem to know the difference between a want and a need...Spend $ they don't have, too much credit card debt, etc.

[AmyKidsCo]

I think there are too many variables to make sweeping judgements. If my hubby were making a ton of money we wouldn't need 2 incomes. But he's a second-career public school teacher who's only been in the field 5 years; there's no way our family could make it on his income alone.

[Crazy8]

I can only answer for my own family and I can tell you I wouldn't be doing daycare if we didn't need my income, but my idea of "need" and yours may be different and that's ok. COL is pretty high here with high property taxes, etc. so that alone makes me working a "need". We are not in debt (except our house), I drive a 10 year old van, we have a budget and while all our absolute TRUE essentials (house, utilities,food) can be covered by DH's salary I do still feel we NEED my income. I feel I NEED to put money away for braces and college and all that other stuff that comes up. I do also WANT them to play football and soccer and maybe even take a vacation every few years and all that would have to come from my salary.

[just_peachy]

I can only answer for my own family and I can tell you I wouldn't be doing daycare if we didn't need my income, but my idea of "need" and yours may be different and that's ok. COL is pretty high here with high property taxes, etc. so that alone makes me working a "need". We are not in debt (except our house), I drive a 10 year old van, we have a budget and while all our absolute TRUE essentials (house, utilities,food) can be covered by DH's salary I do still feel we NEED my income. I feel I NEED to put money away for braces and college and all that other stuff that comes up. I do also WANT them to play football and soccer and maybe even take a vacation every few years and all that would have to come from my salary.

This is my personal answer as well. We paid off our debt after I started daycare. Haven't charged a thing since. (Except that we pay off right away for our Amazon Rewards! See Amazon thread, haha...)

We were hurting. Really hurting for a long time. Starting the daycare and my husband getting out of commission sales and into 50 hour a week manual labor saved us. I don't take anything for granted.

I also drive a 18 year old Astro mini van! I love that beast, hah!

[Oneluckymom]

Too many factors to really get into a meaningful debate. Where you live, what you do for a living, what your spouse does for a living and many more.

I agree. I think you can definitely get by with one income but it may require a move and doing without. Is it doable yes.

[momofboys]

IMO in most cases (lor at least in my case) no, it is not necessary. I say this as a mom whose husband DOES NOT by any way shape or form bring in a huge income & yet we are able to get by (scrape by I should say). To me it was important to be home with my kids, more important than having the latest technology, new furniture, a newer car, taking fancy vacations, etc. We do live in the midwest which is a LCOL area so that helps. And I do not have luxury items. Part of the reason why I do daycare is so we can help make ends meet but to take on 5-6 kids for daycare was never part of my plan b/c it defeats the purpose of me being home. That is why I usually only have 2-3 DC kids - it is enough for me to help with groceries & pay for incidentals (kids' sports fees, etc). So I guess there are a ton of factors as to why some families need 2 incomes but if I totally stopped doin daycare we would survive but just barely. We just choose to live below our means in most cases (or try to)! Our vehicles are paid for & are 10 & 8 years old & we will not replace unless one dies completely. I think sometimes people take on extra debt & then have to earn the $$$ to pay for what they think they need which in some cases are non-essential items.

[MarinaVanessa]

In my area, two incomes are necessary. Houses are expensive, cost of living is expensive.

I think we could swing only one income if we had a much smaller home...but it is not a choice I would want to make.

I can only comment on what I know. Where I live it would be nearly impossible to survive and have children on only one parents' income.

We live in a townhouse 1,200 sq ft condo and our mortgage (HOA, water, garbage and property tax included) is almost $3,000 a month. That doesn't include the other utilities. To rent an apartment or home the same size it would cost about $1,800-$2,000/mo. I only make $30,000 a year at the moment so thank goodness that my DH makes well over that. To help us out we rent one of our spare bedrooms out to my mom for $450 monthly which is a steal compared to how much other rooms are to rent.

We could save money by renting but then we would never actually own anything ourselves and we do have 3 cars (my DC van, our commuter car and a truck) and we COULD give one of those up but DH doesn't want to give up his truck . We already coupon, shop sales etc. and rarely go out to restaurants to eat. Out of all of my friends that I know only 2 couples have it where the wife doesn't work. One doesn't have kids and the other live with the husbands parents (2 kids).

[Lavender]

We lived in northern Virginia and Southern California on a single military income for 11 years. We ended up owning homes in both locations as well. We made it work by not having debt, keeping our vehicles for a long time (and only having 1 vehicle for 4 years), not buying things we don't need (still don't have one of those flat TVs). Now I do work but we don't have cable, our cars are 10 and 7 years old and we hardly ever go out. Most of our extra money goes to our retirement savings and our investments.