Decreasing Average Salary: Men are Now Averaging Less Income Than Their Fathers

What will it take to get America's economy moving in the right direction? A recent study confirmed that men are earning less than their father's did. Overall, the study says that family incomes have risen, so there is no need for worry, but others realize that the reason why family incomes have increased is because the era of the stay at home mom is over. Very few families can afford to have the wife stay home and care for the children. Those who do opt to ensure that a parent is home with the child struggle day to day to make ends meet. This leads to my own curiosity regarding the increase in juvenile crime--is a lack of parent supervision, increased percentages in latch key children, and a lack of quality day cares in some areas to blame?

When I quit my job ten years ago, we knew it would be a struggle. Since that time, we've watched my husband's income increase by 10% while our property taxes (town and school) have increased by 300%. Our health insurance costs are 400% higher than they were ten years ago. Our home is now worth twice what we paid for it due to the sudden increase in property values. Gas, electricity, and propane bills are much higher. Groceries have also gone up. We are not alone, there is a growing number of families working more than two jobs in order to keep up with the increased cost of living. The question becomes why can't the government see it?

I grew up in an era where all of the neighborhood moms stayed home and raised their children. Of all three dozen children in our neighborhood in the 1970s, only four spent any time in jail - three for drugs or alcohol and one for embezzling in the late 1980s. Many of us not only had our own mother's looking over our shoulders, but other neighborhood moms would also keep an eye on us. While we hated it then, those of us who do talk appreciate the care that went into our childhood. We all had two or three "moms" to keep us safe from harm. I find it tragic that few communities experience this anymore.

I look at teenagers in my own rural neighborhood. Two went to jail years ago for destructing headstones in a grave yard. One died while trying to accost his former girlfriend. We have a high number of high school dropouts, drug users, drug dealers, teenage pregnancies, DUI offenders, and some criminals (petty theft, assault). It's rather scary to see how much children have changed. I do all I can to stay home with my children until they are both in middle school. At that point, their father is home at the same time the school bus comes through. Do our children hate having us home? No, it's quite the opposite in fact, both thank us daily for sacrificing many perks in order to ensure an adult is home to monitor activities, keep the druggies away from the house, and show them that they were worth giving up a job. Both of our children are straight A students. Neither have ever had a detention. In general, I am hoping those like them will be the people who change the world for the better.