The Double Income Family Amplifier

 There is a general concern about the widening gap in income between the wealthy and the average worker.  In the analysis of how that gap has developed I have never seen anyone mention what I see as a very fundamental cause:  the growth of two incomes in a single family and their often amplifying effect.

In the 50’s, the era we nostalgically view as a high point in middle class opportunity and standard of living, most families had a single income, which was typically the father’s.  Then, in the 70’s and onward, two major trends led to major changes.  The first was the feminist movement, which launched women into careers in great numbers.  The second was the decrease in real wages.  In order to compensate for this decrease and still be able to meet the rising expectations of the American dream, many middle and lower economic scale families chose to have both adults work.

The increased opportunities for women are indisputably a positive thing and long overdue.  However, an interesting dynamic occurs that exacerbates the income gap.  In general, a woman who is well educated and pursues a lucrative career path will end up marrying a man who is also well paid.  Doctors will marry doctors, lawyers may marry lawyers, engineers will marry engineers and so on, with all the possible permutations.  This may not always be true, but I am guessing that it is true well over 70% of the time.

Then, a simple arithmetic fact becomes apparent with this example:  if you have single wage earners with salaries of $30k and $100k, the difference is $70k.  If their spouses are in similar professions at a similar level of salary, then the combined salaries are $60k and $200k respectively, which give a differential of $140k.  This is a very large income difference that produces a dramatic lifestyle disparity.  Even if we assume that the $60k family can live reasonably well on their income, which, when one considers that childcare, healthcare, transportation and a host of other expenses chip away insidiously at one’s available income, is certainly not a given, the unrelenting reminders of such a large difference in lifestyle must certainly be dispiriting for those near the bottom of the income ladder. 

And of course $100k is not even a very high salary.  Two doctors who are married will easily pull in a combined $500-$800k, or even more.

There is no easy ‘solution’ to this acceleration of the income gap.  The genie is out of the bottle and no one wants to return to a world where women stayed at home with no career opportunities.  And it is also unlikely that we will evolve to a world where doctors marry fast food servers.  If anything, the situation will become even more complex and fractured as more middle class jobs are eliminated by automation.  Thus, we seem to be destined to become a more skewed society of haves and have nots, which cannot be a healthy situation even if the have nots are not starving or destitute.

It's A Wonderful Life

Well, it is Christmas again - and time for another tearful/joyful viewing of Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life'.  Perhaps you've seen it recently too?  Jimmy Stewart is George Bailey, the hero whose dreams of exotic adventure, business success and travel never materialize because he is always giving himself to others, but whose generous and principled existence is nonetheless a beautiful portrait of life lived to its fullest.

Once again I find myself weeping at this poignant reminder of where the true value in life lies.  Isn't it funny that I've seen this picture a hundred times, yet have come no further in incorporating its message in my life?  We all love George Bailey, but almost none of us chooses to follow his path. 

It's not that we are actively evil, like Mr. Potter (the conniving banker who is hated by the entire town).  But as much as we appreciate the simple treasure of George's life as a romantic  ideal, our real life passions are not so easily redirected.  We humans are somehow bound to chase after wealth of a more conventional nature - the very booty that George spent his whole life desiring and never achieving.  We are really more likely to aspire to be Sam Wainwrights (George's opportunistic boyhood friend who seems to have little depth, but becomes wealthy and worldly) than George Baileys.

Even George really does not seek the noble life that he lives.  He tries on numerous occasions to escape from his humdrum existence only to be foiled by various catastrophes that require him to sacrifice his own dreams to rescue others from dire circumstances. 

The film ends rather abruptly after a Dickensian dream sequence demonstrating to George the impact of his life by showing the sad state of affairs that would have resulted had he not been around.  George sprints home with joy in his heart and discovers that his years of sacrifice will not go unrewarded. His friends and neighbors rally around him.  Surrounded by friends and family singing Auld Lang Syne, George seems to understand that his is the essence of a fulfilled life.

But one is left with the question of how George would have felt with the passage of time.  Would the epiphany he experienced with Clarence the Angel have given him a lasting conviction about the value of his life, or would the longing for more exotic experiences and worldly recognition have eventually crept back into his psyche?

Why is it so difficult for us to embrace and act upon the simple truth of this story?  Perhaps it is partly because the truth is not quite so simple.  There are many natural contradictions in life that cannot easily be resolved.  In a sentimental moment we may extol the virtues of the simple life and the primary importance of friends, family and love, but we are easily seduced away from these ideals by the sirens of wealth, adventure and power.

The human spirit seems to quickly lose patience with a placid, humble existence.  Consider the many movies and books that celebrate the passionate young soul who breaks free from a stifling, small town environment and achieves wealth and fame in the big city.  It seems we are doomed to vacillate between the poles of frenzied ambition and sedate acceptance.  We are a restless people who find it difficult to be content with our lot in life.

If one speaks from the perspective of true intentions, one might describe George Bailey as an accidental saint.  But on the other hand, when the difficult decisions had to be made, George always took the high road, the one that clearly was going to dash his hopes and dreams but allow others’ to flourish.  Most of us are subject to George Bailey’s dreams of wealth and fame, but few of us are so selfless and willing to sacrifice them for the sake of others.  This, in the end, is the moral lesson of It’s A Wonderful Life.