Is it reasonable to not get married or start a family unless you can afford it on one income?

[Anonymous]

I don't want any woman who has children with me to be burdened with a job too but a single income seems impossible to support a family

Yes

No

[OlderAndWiser]

1. Some couples do not want to have children or are incapable of having children. I am 69, my wife is 61, and we got married on April 27. These considerations are irrelevant for us.

2. For those couples who DO want to have children and believe that they are biologically capable:

On March 1, 1956, the federal minimum wage increased from $0.75/hour to $1.00/hour. Most couples had the wife staying at home with the children. Of course, prices were much, much cheaper than, also, but couples adjusted their lifestyle to live on one income.

They did not have two cars. If the wife needed the car during the day, she drove the husband to work and picked him up at the end of the day.

They lived in a small three bedroom house. It was not in a gated community and it did not have luxury appointments, but it was adequate for their needs.

They did not take cruises or vacations to Europe or Asia. A vacation meant getting on the car, driving the family to a relative's home, and spending a week with the relatives.

They either had no televisions or one television and the family gathered together tonight to watch it. . . together. They did not go out to restaurants except on rare occasions. for my family, dinner at the Burger King on Friday nights was a big deal.

Dinner was not steak or shrimp every night. The wife knew how to prepare inexpensive meals and she could stretch the food budget with dishes like meat loaf. . . and it was mighty damned good!

They had a mundane existence, by today's standards, BUT. . . the kids came home to Mom every day after school; they weren't raised in day care. The family spent time together instead of being fragmented. They knew about what was happening in each of their lives because they discussed such things when they had dinner together every night. They were happy and content. When the couple reached retirement age, they didn't have riches stored away in retirement accounts, but they had the satisfaction of knowing that they had done their best for their children, the children were now responsible adults, and the senior years were spent helping with the grandchildren and showering them with love.

Today, people are constantly bombarded with fictional accounts of families which are usually affluent, living in huge houses and four new cars in the garage, vacationing around the globe, and lighting cigars with $100 bills. . . and we all see it and say "that's what I want, too, but it'll take two incomes to even come close to that lifestyle." And we all pay the price for our greed.

[CuriousHubby]

Nope got 4 friends waiting till they can afford a child and got 3 couples 5 kids and one income.

You don't wait you make do and survive!

In this economy you will be waiting forever and the women don't wish they marry and divorce. So my age it's mostly single moms or divorced.

[Apple1996]

It's definitely reasonable. You don't want your wife having to balance between kids and work. It's best for her to put full focus into raising kids

[Nikki1989]

You are not cut out for marriage, and many people are in the same boat.

[Tamera952]

Very reasonable indeed.