The Two-Income Trap (32 page)

58
Coontz,
The Way We Never Were,
p. 168.

59
Chris McComb, “Few Say It’s Ideal for Both Parents to Work Full Time Outside of Home,” Gallup News Service, April 20-22, 2001.

60
Both women and men who did not finish high school saw declines in real wages over the past twenty years. By contrast, among college graduates, women’s earnings have increased 30 percent since 1979, while men’s earnings have increased by 17 percent. U.S. Department of Labor, “Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2000,” Report 952, August 2001, Table 15, Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers 25 and Over in Constant (2000) Dollars, by Sex and Educational Attainment, 1979-2000 Annual Averages.

61
Median earnings, which are the best measure of middle-class wages, have risen less than 1 percent for men since the early 1970s, while women’s earnings have increased by more than one-third. Bureau of the Census,
Historical Income Tables—People,
Current Population Survey, various Annual Demographic Supplements. Available at
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/incperdet.html
[1/5/2003], Table P-36, Full-Time, Year-Round Workers (All Races) by Median Income and Sex, 1955 to 2000.

62
Barbara J. Lipman, Center for Housing Policy, “Paycheck to Paycheck: Working Families and the Cost of Housing in America,”
New Century Housing
2 (June 2001): 24-26.

63
As we discuss in chapter 6, the proportion of middle-income families who would be considered “house poor” has quadrupled since 1975. Bureau of the Census,
Annual Housing Survey for the United States and Regions, 1975, Part C, Financial Characteristics of the Housing Inventory,
Annual Survey (1977),
Table A.1
, Income of Families and Primary Individuals in Owner and Renter Occupied Housing Units, 1975. Available at
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/h150.html
[3/10/2003];
American Housing Survey for the United States: 2001,
Annual Survey (2001), Table 2- 20, Income of Families and Primary Individuals by Selected Characteristics—Occupied Units. Available at
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/ahs/ahs01/tab313.html
[3/4/2003]. In addition, the Consumer Expenditure Survey indicates that mortgage payments as a proportion of income has increased considerably since the early 1970s. Many indexes that measure housing affordability have shown no clear trend. These indices, however, typically calculate a
theoretical
housing cost, based on such factors as current mortgage rates and an imputed down payment amount. As a result, the indices are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates, ignoring the fact that many families have fixed-rate mortgages and do not refinance during periods of high interest. Similarly, these indexes typically assume that all buyers get a conventional mortgage, which ignores the extraordinary rise in high-cost subprime mortgages in recent years. Furthermore, they assume that the typical down payment has held constant over the past generation, when in fact first-time home buyers are putting down far smaller down payments today than twenty years ago. See, for example, Bureau of the Census, “Who Could Afford to Buy a House in 1995?” Table 4-2, Affordability Status of Families and Unrelated Individuals for a Modestly Priced Home, by Current Tenure and Type of Financing, United States, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995. See also Joint Center for Housing Studies,
State of the Nation’s Housing,
Table A-3. We continue to believe that the best evidence of real housing costs is the direct data on what families report they are actually paying.

64
BLS,
Consumer Expenditure Survey: Interview Survey, 1972-1973,
Table 5;
Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2000,
Table 1400. Note that in 2000, 74 percent of married couples with children owned their own homes; in 1972/73 this figure was 71 percent. In order to isolate the effects of changing supply and demand for owner-occupied housing, this calculation only accounts for changes in mortgage expenditures (including both interest and principal) by families who owned their own homes. Federal Reserve data produce similar results (see above).

65
Martha Minow argues that “daring changes” are needed to increase parental involvement and promote accountability in the schools.
Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good
(Boston: Beacon Press, 2003).

66
Laurent Belsie, “Preschools Are Popping at the Seams,”
Christian Science Monitor,
July 9, 2002, p. 13.

67
Belsie, “Preschools Are Popping at the Seams,” p. 13.

68
Children’s Defense Fund,
Key Facts: Essential Information About Child Care, Early Education, and School-Age Care
(Washington, DC: CDF, 2000).

69
Anna Quindlen, “Building Blocks for Every Kid,”
Newsweek,
February 12, 2001.

70
Vicki Iovine,
The Girlfriends’ Guide to Toddlers: A Survival Manual to the “Terrible Twos” (and Ones and Threes) from the First Step, the First Potty, and the First Word (“No”) to the Last Blankie
(New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1999): 240.

71
Suzanne Helburn et al.,
Cost, Quality, and Child Care Outcomes in Child Care Centers
(Denver: Center for Research in Economic and Social Policy, University of Colorado at Denver, 1995).

72
National Council of Jewish Women,
Opening a New Window on Child Care: A Report on the Status of Child Care in the Nation Today
(New York: NCJW, 1999), p. 6.

73
Kate N. Grossman, “Pre-kindergarten Lures Middle Class to Public School,”
Chicago Sun-Times,
June 10, 2002; in-state tuition and fees at the University of Illinois are $5,748. University of Illinois Web site, at
http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/current/tuit.html
[12/19/2002].

74
Karen Schulman,
The High Cost of Child Care Puts Quality Care Out of Reach for Many Families
(Washington, DC: Children’s Defense Fund, 2000),
Table A.1
, Comparison of Average Annual Child Care Costs in Urban Area Centers to Average Annual Public College Tuition Costs.

75
See, for example, Center on Education Policy, “Gore’s Preschool and Child Care Proposals,” Policy Paper (Washington, DC: CEP, June 2000).

76
“Landing a Man on the Moon: The Public’s View,”
Gallup Poll Analyses,
July 20, 1999.

77
John Immerwahr and Tony Foleno, Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,
Great Expectations: How the Public and Parents—White, African American, and Hispanic—View Higher Education
(Washington, DC: Public Agenda, May 2000), Table 1.

78
Immerwahr and Foleno,
Great Expectations,
Table 3.

79
Immerwahr and Foleno,
Great Expectations,
p. 1.

80
“57 Percent of UW Freshmen in Top 10 Percent of Class,”
Wisconsin State Journal
, August 5, 2002.

81
A private college education costs $25,300 a year, about half the entire annual income for an average, middle-class family. Thomas D. Snyder and Charlene M. Hoffman,
Digest of Education Statistics, 1999
. NCES 2000-031 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, March 2000), Table 317, Average Undergraduate Tuition and Fees and Room and Board Rates Paid by Full-Time Equivalent Students in Institutions of Higher Education, by Type and Control of Institution, 1964-65 to 1998-99.

82
Immerwahr and Foleno,
Great Expectations,
Table 1.

83
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Digest of Education Statistics, 1999,
Table 317.

84
BLS,
Consumer Price Index Detailed Tables, Annual Averages, 2001
. Available at
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid01av.pdf
[12/19/2002]. Table 1A, Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers: City Average, by Expenditure Category and Commodity and Service Group. Thomas D. Snyder and Charlene M. Hoffman,
Digest of Education Statistics, 1999
. NCES 2000-031 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, March 2000), Table 240, Average Salary of Full-Time Instructional Faculty on 9-month Contracts in Institutions of Higher Education, by Academic Rank, Sex, and Control and Type of Institution, 1970-71 to 1997-98.

85
Snyder and Hoffman,
Digest of Education Statistics, 1999,
Table 317; Bureau of the Census,
Historical Income Tables—Families,
Current Population Survey, various Annual Demographic Supplements. Table F-10, Presence of Children Under 18 Years Old by Type of Family—Families by Median and Mean Income. Available at
http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/incfamdet.html
[1/22/2003].

86
Immerwahr and Foleno,
Great Expectations,
Table 8.

87
American Council on Education,
The Cost of College: Perceptions, Reality, and Value
. ACE Issue Brief (Washington, DC: ACE, January 1997): 3-4. The Report cites a number of causes for rising costs, including economic market conditions, state budget cuts, financial aid, student expectations, scientific needs, regulatory compliance, and an increase in the federal minimum wage.

88
American Council on Education and National Affairs, “Hearing Focuses on Rising College Tuition,”
Higher Education and National Affairs
, July 29, 1996, p. 2.

89
Statement of the American Association of University Professors to the National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education,
October 1997, p. 3.

90
American Council on Education,
The Cost of College,
p. 3.

91
Charles T. Clotfelter,
Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 188-198.

92
James L. Schulman and William G. Bowen,
The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001), pp. 244-245.

93
Daniel L. Fulks,
Revenues and Expenses of Division I and II Intercollegiate Athletics Programs: Financial Trends and Relationships—1999
(Indianapolis: National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2000). Between 1993 and 1999, the average deficit, excluding subsidies from the university’s general funds, increased by 57 percent for Division I-AA colleges, by 127 percent for I-AAA colleges, and by 50 percent for Division II colleges.

94
Michael Arnone, “The Wannabes,”
Chronicle of Higher Education,
January 3, 2003.

95
American Council on Education, “Senate Hearing Focuses on College Costs,”
Higher Education and National Affairs,
February 14, 2000.

96
Immerwahr and Foleno,
Great Expectations,
p. 1.

97
U.S. Department of Education, “Accountability for Results Works: College Loan Default Rates Continue to Decline,” press release, September 19, 2001.
Available at
http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/09-2001/09192001a.html
[1/5/2003]. The Department of Education heralded the success of its programs to reduce the default rate on student loans, but the reduction does not mean that families can afford the loans. Student loans are almost never dischargeable in bankruptcy, so many have learned that they must pay their student loans even if it means losing the house, the car, and the furniture.

98
Stephen Burd, “How Much Is Too Much?”
Chronicle of Higher Education,
January 24, 2003.

99
Calculated from Glenn B. Canner, Thomas A. Durking, and Charles A. Lucket, “Recent Developments in Home Equity Lending,”
Federal Reserve Bulletin
, April 1998.

100
Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,
Losing Ground: A National Status Report on the Affordability of American Higher Education
(San Jose, CA: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2002), p. 13; see also Snyder and Hoffman,
Digest of Education Statistics, 2001,
Table 331, Current Fund Revenue of Degree-Granting Institutions, by Source of Funds, 1919-20 to 1995-96. Current fund revenue at public universities from state, local, and federal tax appropriations increased 34 percent between 1980 and 1997, inflation adjusted.

101
BLS,
Consumer Expenditure Survey: Interview Survey, 1972-1973,
Table 5;
Consumer Expenditures in 2000,
Table 4.

102
Graaf, Waan, and Naylor,
Affluenza,
pp. 25-26.

103
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average four-person family had 1.7 vehicles a generation ago; today they have 2.5, an increase of nearly one (0.8) car per family. This is a big jump, but it isn’t clear that over-consumption is to blame. The trick is in the averages. Many four-person families have more than two adults at home, such as a son in college, an elderly grandparent, or even a brother-in-law who doesn’t have his own place. The number of adults in the average family of four is 2.4 today (up just slightly from 2.3 a generation ago). This means that the average family has shifted from owning 0.7 vehicles per adult to 1.0 vehicles per adult. In other words, as Mom headed to the office and families moved deeper into the suburbs, they did indeed splurge, seeing to it that each adult had his or her own vehicle so they could get to work, school, and market. BLS,
Consumer Expenditure Survey: Interview Survey, 1972-1973,
Table 5;
Consumer Expenditures in 2000,
Table 4.

104
Homeowners’ median distance to work increased from 7.9 miles in 1975 to 10 miles in 1999. Bureau of the Census, American Housing Survey, 1975, General Housing Characteristics, Current Housing Reports H-150-75A, Table A1, Bureau of the Census,
American Housing Survey, 1999,
Current Housing Reports H150/99 (October 2000), Table 2-24, Journey to Work—Occupied Units.