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Across the Fence:  Feminism?  |
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sweetproserpina
True Blue Farmgirl
535 Posts
meg
Vinemount
Ontario
Canada
535 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 11:59:29 AM
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Thanks Jo :) This is such an interesting topic isn't it?
As a historian, it's interesting to see how society today has evolved into a world where most families need two incomes to survive. How did we get this way? Was it with the rise of the middle class and their slow desire for more and better 'stuff'? Keeping up with the Jones' and all that until finally, both parents had to be employed to afford all that stuff? Or have our needs (and the cost of needs!) outstripped those of days past? Do the basics of life cost so much more than they did years ago? Do we get paid so much less than our ancestors did? Or do we just have more needs than they did?
Questions, questions. It makes me think of that great ABBA song: Money Money Money! Lol.
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."
http://quaintandkeepinghouse.blogspot.com New Homekeeping Blog!
http://theprimroseway.blogspot.com/ |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 12:08:09 PM
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| I think it's definitely our needs, and the cost of said needs. I've seen numerous studies recently (sorry, I can't think of one to link to off the top of my head) showing that, while the cost of food and consumer goods has declined over the past 50 years, the cost of big ticket items like housing, education, and health care take up a far greater share of our incomes. And wages (in the US at least) have been outpaced by inflation. The bottom line: we work harder now for less than we did in the 1950s-1960s. |
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fionalovesshrek
True Blue Farmgirl
186 Posts
Paige
kinston
North Carolina
USA
186 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 4:13:54 PM
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I worked out the numbers, using a few websites with the median incomes (before taxes) of the different jobs I do, and fell short of my previous quote but not by much. Here it is.
Teacher (one 5th grader, one 1st grader, one kindergardener and threw in the three year olds "preschool" for free) : 84,256.00
Clerk: 27,768.00
Driver: 22,776.00
chambermaid:16,956.00
Nurse in training: 32,232.00
masseur (yes, that's code for sex):18,950.00
cook : 12,376.00
recreation coordinator: 16,796.00
Laundry maid: 15,548.00
kitchen prep and cleaner : 11,700.00
childcare for 4 children: 37,856.00
total:297,214.00
I remember now, I threw in the rest because hubby is w/ the Marines, and deploys every other year or so, so then I get to add
dad, mechanic, plumber, yard maintenance, etcetcetc.
There you have it.
Hey, I want a raise!
P~
www.fionaswampington.blogspot.com
http://homespunhensfarmgirlchapter.blogspot.com/
Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments, owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains. |
Edited by - fionalovesshrek on Sep 17 2008 4:15:49 PM |
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elphie0503
True Blue Farmgirl
500 Posts
Samantha
Gilmer
Texas
USA
500 Posts |
Posted - Sep 17 2008 : 6:39:02 PM
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Meg--I was thinking of the same song...I have it on my playlist, and it finally came around this morning. Sadly, it is a rich man's world...
Samantha
www.myspace.com/elphie0503
I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind.~~Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
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Across the Fence: Feminism? |
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Feminism?
