Twelve years ago we went through a recession almost as bad as the one we're going through now. Through lay-offs, inflation, and tax increases, the only thing that kept most families going was the addition of more earners working more hours. They were the same women who the alarmists are blaming for family decline. Their efforts at home never slowed down. They just took on more work, as families always have, to get their families through.
Families build our society and drive our economy.
They provide us with workers, consumers and taxpayers. In the 1950s, the average family got by on just 48 hours of work every week outside the home. In 1991, members of the average family worked between 65 and 75 hours a week at jobs outside the home. And they had to. It was the women in our families who made the additional payments that kept families afloat and kept the wheels of the economy moving.