I don't think it's as much of a red herring as you suggest. More and more, a dual income is required for basic sustenance. That has a significant impact in many intangible ways: stress, family dynamics, freedom to pursue entrepreneurial efforts, etc.
It was suggested that dual incomes were a cause of increased inequality, not a symptom. And that's wrong.
The inequality that's an economic problem is not between those earning more than 100k and those earning less [1]. The problematic inequality is the difference between those earning more than 1M and those earning less. [2]
I absolutely agree that dual incomes are an increasing-necessity, but they're a symptom of inequality. They're more-required because the "below 1M" earners have not been seeing their wages rise with their increased productivity. And those "lost wages" are going to the "above 1M" crowd -- not the above 100k crowd.
[1] Two incomes are not making anyone cross that line, save a hypothetical family with two executives at small-to-mid-size firms. And the problem is primarily the rates-of-change of wages between those earning more than 1M and those earning less. That there's a gulf is not, by itself, much of a problem. That it's getting wider, is concerning. That tangible objective increases in worker output and efficiency are not translating into increased worker rewards is the ticking time bomb.
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I don't think it's as much of a red herring as you suggest. More and more, a dual income is required for basic sustenance. That has a significant impact in many intangible ways: stress, family dynamics, freedom to pursue entrepreneurial efforts, etc.
It was suggested that dual incomes were a cause of increased inequality, not a symptom. And that's wrong.
The inequality that's an economic problem is not between those earning more than 100k and those earning less [1]. The problematic inequality is the difference between those earning more than 1M and those earning less. [2]
I absolutely agree that dual incomes are an increasing-necessity, but they're a symptom of inequality. They're more-required because the "below 1M" earners have not been seeing their wages rise with their increased productivity. And those "lost wages" are going to the "above 1M" crowd -- not the above 100k crowd.
[1] Two incomes are not making anyone cross that line, save a hypothetical family with two executives at small-to-mid-size firms. And the problem is primarily the rates-of-change of wages between those earning more than 1M and those earning less. That there's a gulf is not, by itself, much of a problem. That it's getting wider, is concerning. That tangible objective increases in worker output and efficiency are not translating into increased worker rewards is the ticking time bomb.