If you remember, just 20 years or so (I can say that now that I'm nearing 40), you'll see that the U.S. economy was based on single-income families. A breadwinner could support his or her family on an average income. So when women joined the work force, nearly doubling its size relative to the population, the cost of living had to catch up. Housing prices skyrocketed as many more families, especially younger ones, could afford their own houses. And our economy now sees two incomes as the standard. Whereas 20 years ago a second income was a luxury, it's now almost a necessity for most. As a result, the breadwinner in a single-income family must make a much better than average salary, and many women have to work to maintain a reasonable lifestyle.

There's another side to this issue. Because most families do rely on two incomes, there's less time spent with the children. It's not just the fact that children often come home to empty houses, but that both parents are often tired and less able to put up with the demands of helping with homework and dealing with kids who want to play with their parents. When both parents have careers, they often bring work home with them and aren't concentrating on the family. They also may lack the energy to discipline their children. I don't have conclusive evidence, but I think this contributes to a number of other woes. The problem in our schools isn't that the teachers are worse than ever. It's more likely that the kids don't come to school with the motivation and appreciation for education that they should have. I live in an upper-middle-class area, and at the elementary school it's not uncommon for a number of kids to stroll in ten or fifteen minutes late on a regular basis, because the parents have to fit the school trips into their work schedules. So the kids learn that school is an adjunct to their lives, a second priority. When the breakdown of family values is debated, maybe we should consider this situation the major reason.