About the 4 in 10 Families with woman breadwinners. What isn't talked about

[edhopper]

What about the fact that with the assault on Unions since Reagan, traditional jobs by men are paying less and less. Not to mention that all middle class salaries have stagnated.
In many families woman have to work to just keep a roof over there heads, but also they need the benefits like health insurance.

This is not to say that woman shouldn't work and there is nothing wrong with them being the breadwinner. But those in the media who are talking about the time away from children should look at the aspects of this story beyond the paycheck.

I have the feeling that if we had universal health care and affordable child care, more parents would have a parent who stayed at home more.

[Puzzledtraveller]

1. I'm not claiming any numbers but just from my experience

as a caseworker it seems the majority of my clients fit the description. Many of my families consist of the mom or woman "breadwinner" . I see the wages and earnings of everyone who applies with me for Medicaid or SNAP and a good number appear to give credit to the claim. What I often see is households with an unemployable male, leaving the mom or woman to be the sole wage earner. What I mean by unemployable is things from felony convictions to lack of education and experience. Of course I am only seeing a particular segment of that statistic as obviously not all families with a woman breadwinner are applying for assistance.

[edhopper]

2. I worked for some time in the Trade world

jobs that required a trade, construction electrician, painting, etc...Because it was Union labor everyone made a living wage. Many of the men were high school grads who came up through the apprentice path. They ended up with a good living wage, many the only working parent. Since then (80s & 90s) many of these have become lower pay jobs employing more immigrants who will work for less money and no benefits. (this isn't a slam against immigrants)