[...]... one thing: The Two-Income Trap is a phenomenon Most of the time, we talked with reporters who just wanted to quiz us about our book “How did you find out about the Two-Income Trap? ” (We completed the largest study ever on financial failure in America.) “What should families do to protect themselves from the Two-Income Trap? ” (Take their own Financial Fire Drill.) And so on But sometimes the attention... futures and who are determined to make their families more secure Families are taking to heart the lessons of the Financial Fire Drill, as they evaluate the risks they face in a whole new light This book is dedicated to improving the lives of the hard-working, play-by -the- rules families who are learning the hard way that the rules have changed These pages speak to the hopes and fears of today’s middle... as the single most important component of the good life.”21 Homes mark the lives of their children, setting out the parameters of their universe The luck of location will determine whether there are computers in their classrooms, whether there are sidewalks for them to ride bikes on, and whether the front yard is a safe place to play And a home will consume more of the family’s income than any other... perfectly, coming at just the right time to give each family extra ammunition to compete in the bidding wars—and to drive the prices even higher for the things they all wanted The average two-income family earns far more today than did the singlebreadwinner family of a generation ago And yet, once they have paid the mortgage, the car payments, the taxes, the health insurance, and the day-care bills, today’s... paychecks to pay the mortgage and the health insurance bills Their incomes are committed, and calling for them to abandon those financial commitments would mean forcing them to give up their families’ spot in the middle class No, the real solution lies elsewhere—in addressing the reasons behind the bidding war and helping all families, both dual- and single-income, to get some relief The Two-Income Trap is... along with their husbands Our research eventually unearthed one stunning fact The families in the worst financial trouble are not the usual suspects They are not the very young, tempted by the freedom of their first credit cards They are not the elderly, trapped by failing bodies and declining savings accounts And they are not a random assortment of Americans who lack the self-control to keep their spending... with the experts’ recommendations Today, nearly two-thirds of America’s three- and four-year-olds attend preschool, compared with just 4 percent in the mid- 1960s.67 This isn’t just the by-product of more mothers entering the workforce; nearly half of all stay-at-home moms now send their kids to a prekindergarten program.68 As Newsweek put it, The science says it all: preschool programs are neither... save the family during times of emergency When Junior got sick, the stay-at-home mother was there to care for him full-time, without the need to hire a nurse If Dad was laid off, Mom could enter the workforce, bringing in a new income until Dad found another job And if the couple divorced, the mother who had not been working outside the home could get a job and add new income to support her children The. .. economic prosperity, the risks facing their families jumped considerably Partly they were the victims of optimistic myopia: They saw the rewards a working mother could bring, without seeing the risks associated with that newfound income And partly they were the victims of one another As millions of mothers poured into the workplace, it became increasingly difficult to put together a middle-class life on... income The combination has taken these women out of the home and away from their children and simultaneously made family life less, not more, financially secure Today’s middle-class mother is trapped: She can’t afford to work, and she can’t afford to quit A Mother’s Story Both mothers and fathers are trapped in the same sinking boat, but it is mothers who have been the special targets of change over the . Families Now: The Two-Income Trap Chapter 3 - Mom: The All-Purpose Safety Net The All-Purpose Safety Net No New Money Good Intentions Turn Back the Clock? Chapter 4 - The Myth of the Immoral Debtor No. Chapter 5 - Going It Alone in a Two-Income World The Best of Times . . . . . . The Worst of Times Continuing Fallout from the Two-Income Trap Trying to Compete in a Two-Income World The Facts. heart the lessons of the Financial Fire Drill, as they evaluate the risks they face in a whole new light. This book is dedicated to improving the lives of the hard-working, play-by -the- rules families