Unsung Heroes

My grandparents were blessed in that during their time it was common for the man to work and the woman manage the house. Times have drastically changed, now both spouses work.

Why?

I was taught in my history classes that for the most part men were against women working outside of the home. Feel free to post corrections to that. :) Whether or not that is accurate does not change the fact that society has created an "and" statement where an "or" statement would probably work better.

This "and" statement comes from both spouses working; while in some cases out of want there are those who do so out of need. Yes many made decisions that put them in the posistion of making it a need. However it does not change the fact that the average wage barely supports a single person, much less a family.

The answer is not raising the minimum wage. You raise the minimum wage you force prices up as the cost of making the goods goes up.

So in my limited understanding of history 2 things have contributed to the cost of living increases that have infringed on this living standard of one spouse at home. One was unhitching the dollar from the gold standard, which is a discussion for another day. Two the increase in the avaible work force by allowing women in it.

When the push for women to be allowed equal access to the work force was being made it was predicted that exactly what has happened would. Again feel free to correct my history. But it could have been avoided simply by not counting one of a married couple as part of the work force. Not to say they couldn't be, but that once married only one person was expected to be part of the work force. This would have kept the wages from being decreased by a sudden glut of doubling the avaible labor pool.

But preserving the sacredness of the stay at home spouse was not a thought of the time. Most of what I have read, old articles, history books from school, paint a clear battle line of not wanting women in the work place. Period. End of story.

There are many out there who still hold to the it is odd or weird (if they are being nice in their word choices) for a man to be at home with the kids while the wife works. A lot of my peers growing up and certain religious groups I know hold this view. All I have to say to them is that notion is one of the reasons I don't have kids. I do not do well with kids being around me all day; however I do quite well working.

To further this agenda of driving parents either into dependency on government programs or Both working so they can maintain some semblance of control over what their kids learn the government doesn't even recognize the value of a stay at home spouse via taxes. Recognizing the earning potential of the stay at home spouse via tax breaks, free educational services, free medical even if it only for emergencies.

It has been proven by studies that a parent with college education will have kids with higher success rates than those with out.

Everyone knows that illness can cause major set backs fincially if not bankruptcy  and kids are very prone to needing more medical care. Not to mention proper medical care can also effect kids ability to perform in school which can effect them for the rest of their lives.

Don't you think it is time to recognize our unsung heroes of stay at home parents?