Delete comment from: Captain Capitalism
Anonymous 4:29 AM,
I wouldn't prohibit women who want to work from participating in the workforce for wages. There are so many women who do NOT want to work but feel that they HAVE to work in order for their family to survive. Many men feel that their wives MUST work or the bills will not get paid. I am not talking about minimum wage earners, I am referencing couples who both work professional jobs and are paid a good living. I was really excited and thrilled when I read the post by the blog author (a male) that explained in easy to understand terms what I have tried to explain to others. From now on, I can just send a link. *grin*
The main point of my posts is that family finances should be evaluated and run like a business. Decisions should be based on metrics and cost/benefit analysis (including emotional considerations). I agree with the Captain that in most cases barter within a family shelters your "wages" and productivity from confiscatory taxes that are then used primarily to fund other families. Why should my or my husband's labor - literally hours of our lives we will never get back be taken from us and given to another family (without our consent)?
Your family (business) has different circumstances than mine. We don't have the operating overhead you do (niche education requirements) and I was not accruing any pension benefits when working.
I made a very comfortable salary and would have had money left over to cover outsourcing expenses. I would have netted approx $28,000 annually after all expenses and taxes without counting on performance bonuses. 28k is just not enough income for me to work 60+ hours a week and be on call 24 hours a day. Many days I would have left the house before my children were awake and returned after they were in bed asleep. What kind of life is that? Considering my husband is also on call three days a week, it only made financial sense for me to stop working. I wanted to be with my child (and later children). My husband loves his children and would do anything for them but he doesn't want to be with them all the time. (He likes showering for more than 3 minutes and going to the bathroom alone. An accomplishment no stay at home mother with small children can claim!) So it also made emotional sense for me to be the one to stop working. Biology is destiny.
Also where your business is located (where you live) plays a large role too. I am guessing that you don't have to rent a parking spot for $200 a month just for the privilege of paying expenses for a car to drive to and from work. Public transportation infrastructure in Chicago exists but it is safe only during very limited times of the day.
I have family members who live where high quality childcare is available for a reasonable price (mostly stay at home Moms who care for one or two children other than their own for pay). That doesn't exist where I live. Childcare workers here are the very bottom rung of society. That doesn't make them "bad" women, it does make them the wrong people to leave a child with. Why? Because any woman who is even slightly above the bottom rung can get a "better" job or decides it is more beneficial to just stay home with her own children.
Finally, I have met a very large number of women and men who are confused and truly stumped. They have no idea why with two people working professional jobs they are further in the hole at the end of each month. I managed three departments of employees where a large number of them were unable to understand the actual cost of working. They were not dumb people, they just were provided with faulty information/metrics.
Ping Jockey is actually who the quote should be attributed to - although I agree with it.
I agree with a previous commenter that this subject matter has "book" written (pun!) all over it - especially from an economists vantage point. Thank you for your indulgence with my many comments Captain, this is a subject close to my heart.
Apr 1, 2012, 1:30:46 AM
Posted to The $67 Billion Feminist Tax that Women Primarily Pay