I remember hearing some commentator on TV say that for single-income couples with children, when the wife starts to work to boost the household income, most of the income gets lost to travel costs, childcare, work wardrobe, etc.
Is there any research on this, and if so was it carried out or sponsored by a disinterested party?
11811
http://partners.financenter.com/abcnews/calculate/us-eng/budget09.fcs
Here’s a sample of a working spouse calculator. Basically, it takes into account the income earned along with the incidentals such as extra wardrobe, extra car and day care expenses, etc.
I’m not sure how exactly it’s been researched, as the information you provide would be unique to your own cirucumstances…much would depend on the income generated and how much it actually costs the spouse to work. Mostly, the calculators are a good way to give some perspective on how much money one REALLY earns after all the attendant BS is paid for.
If you google a bit, I’m sure you’ll find more sites, but this one was fairly consistent with the others I’ve seen.
Best,
karol
I would wag you would need reasearch to prove the opposite as it seems like someone who has been out of the work force for a number of years, wanting to get back in (therefore willing to accept jobs that they wouldn’t otherwise), typically female that for one reason or another I’m told makes something like $0.50 to $0.80 for every $1 a man gets, using that SUV intended to haul kids around as primary gas guzzeling work vechical, needing to buy a wardrobe suitable for work, has to incure daycare costs (not cheap), and take certain more convienent & costly options for meals for the family, probabally gong back to work for social reasons therefore wants to go out for lunch w/ coworkers regularally AND to top it all off is now in a higher tax bracket would have to get a job that pays very well to actually start making net positive money.
Just to add, I’m not saying it’s a bad idea as there is one item that is not considered in the above - the person is gaining work experence and becomming more markatable and could better themselves over time to a point where their income greatly outweighs the costs.
I can only relate personal experience.
My wife worked after our first child. After our 2nd, she worked for a while, then quit. She worked as a nuclear med tech, which makes a salary that is well above average. After the difference in day care for 2 kids, expenses for clothing, lunches, gas, etc. I figured out that about half her salary was just going to expenses, so when she quit it actually didn’t hurt us financially all that much. I figured at the time that women who were below maybe 20k to 25k annually for salaries would probably have most if not all of their income going to expenses if they had 2 children in day care. This was in the Baltimore area. Day care expenses and salaries vary quite a bit from area to area, so YMMV.
So, as usual, if you’re rich enough (that is, have very high-paying jobs), the second job is financially advantageous. If you’re poor (that is, have low-paying jobs), the second job is not financially advantageous.
I always have a big problem with the similar magazine articles I’ve read (which were not aimed only at woment thinking about returning to work, but also at women thinking about quitting their jobs). They assume that the extra money is an expense of working, when it might be just part of a higher income. I know that’s confusing, but I’ll try to explain. Yes, I spend more money on clothing than I would if I wasn’t working, so according to those articles I should subtract the extra money I spend on clothes from my salary. However, I don’t spend more than I would if my husband alone earned our current household income, and I don’t need to spend that extra money in order to work. No, I wouldn’t send my kids to day camp in the summer if I wasn’t working, but again, I would if my husband alone earned our combined income.
Another aspect to consider - Mr. Adoptamom is self employed - always has and will be. Health insurance benefits are a tremendous bonus to our family. I’ve worked off and on, part time and full time, for the past 4.5 years for one company. When I’m full time, they pay our entire family heath coverage. That, along with my modest salary makes it worth our while for me to work outside the home during lean times for DH.