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"In constant dollars our family income purchasing power is less now than 50 years ago. That's why husband and wife must both work."

Color me skeptical. While I was growing up (I'm 45), our family income was above average with just my dad working - when my mom worked weekends (she was a nurse), it was higher still. But my hubby and I have more kids and more stuff, and are living in a bigger house, even though he's the only one working and our family income is a touch below average (while we sometimes charge up a bit and pay it off in a year, generally our only debt is the mortgage, which was my parents' position as well). Our siblings who're married where both spouses are working are living way better than our parents did, even though both our moms worked at least part time.

If we're below average income now, living better than above average income thirty years back, in what way have things gotten worse? Plus now there's more stuff available at cheaper prices - not just a wider variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, but things like computers, DVDs and VCRs that weren't even around when I was a kid are easily affordable. And heaven knows the cars today are generally more powerful and nifty. Except for the fact that it can be hard to get a stick shift, which is sometimes annoying...

I cannot see any possible way that your statement can be true in any practical sense. My money goes way further than my mom's did when I was a kid. If I got on the Internet and made more of an effort to track down sales, it'd go further still. Modern poor people in the U.S. are living considerably better than my grandparents did. Our income hasn't gotten worse; our expectations have gotten higher.