General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)But when a young working couple decides to start a family, there's only one way it works - you can't negotiate who's responsible for bearing the child - to maintain standard of living, the man must work more hours or get a better paying job to make up for her lost wages.
Once she reenters the workforce, the math of childcare means that they will only keep a tiny fraction of those additional wages, so her net contribution doesn't mitigate the need for him to keep the overtime/more hazardous and thus higher paying job.
When that family decides that they're done having children, the couple will learn that although a tubal ligation is free (because of ACA) a vasectomy is not (because of ACA).
In my experience, the only thing that enables a family to swap childrearing and worker-bee roles is a layoff of the man. It was a wonderful experience for me, but it only came about because of a major financial crisis.
And hours worked is essentially the same for men and women. Men work far more hours outside the home while women work more hours on household tasks. The pay gap, the hours worked gap, and the dangerous jobs gap show exactly what you would expect biology to dictate.