How do you feel working society is impacted by stay at home parents?

Question

Please do not respond with fluffy answers such as the worth of a stay at home parent based on your personal belief.

I'm looking for logical ideas on the impact of society (taxes, government programs, etc) of those who chose to not work on those that do work. If a parent chooses not to work:

-and their child is college age, should the child receive federal/state funding based on income? Or should it be based on test scores without considering income?

-Should they receive welfare? (assistance, WIC, etc) Or should they receive back to work programs, etc?

-Whats the impact on taxes? As you know with our current tax system, the lower your income the lower your tax. So, if a household has a low income and a capable but, unworking adult--should there be some kind of adjustment?

Answer 1

For the most part, the decision to stay at home is predicated upon sufficient income from a single breadwinner, i.e. the so-called "traditional" family unit.  Since they don't need the additional income, this choice frees up a job for someone who needs one.  The impact on taxes as a whole is therefore neutral.

The far greater social impact over the past 50 years is the wide-spread necessity for there to be two breadwinners in order to have an acceptable lifestyle.  This is especially true at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.  

In 1967, when the minimum wage was $1.40 per hour, it was possible to support a family of 4 on that seemingly measly amount of money.  It was nothing fancy of course, little more than survival, but it was possible.  Had the minimum wage kept up with inflation it would be in the region of double what it is now, or around $14.00 per hour.  And guess what?  The $28k per year that that brings in is about what a family of 4 needs today to survive.  Therefore there is an absolute NEED for two breadwinners if both earn minimum wage.

As a side-bar to this, a family of 4 earning $28k per year will pay little if anything in Federal income taxes in most cases and will receive a substantial refund from the Additional Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Credit.  The total paid may actually be LESS than it would be for 2 single parents with one child each, by the way, so there is a SIGNIFICANT "marriage penalty" at the lower end of the socio-economic scale.