We are taught today that each family needs two incomes to survive. Mothers need to leave their homes and make money for a roof over their heads and food. In some cases, this is true. If the husband is disabled, for instance. However, in most cases, I doubt this is true.
God tells us that if we have food and clothing we should be content. He promises to supply all of our needs. I think the problem is that He is not supplying all of our wants.
I read a book entitled Radical Homemaking recently. I will be doing several posts on what I gleaned from this book. It isn't written from a biblical perspective but it has a lot of wisdom in it.
The premise is that we have been lied to. Radical Homemakers are people who want to get back into their homes and make their lives meaningful.
If there was one unifying belief among them, it was to question all the assumptions in our consumer culture that have us convinced that a family cannot survive without a dual income. These men and women build security through frugal living, domestic skills and reduced material needs.
Families with two incomes, while they were bringing in 75 percent more money than their single-income counterparts from the precious generation, were financially worse off. By the time two-income families pay for a home, health insurance, the second car, child care and taxes, there is very little money left over.
As women joined men in the workforce, opportunities to spend the paychecks were plentiful, including professional clothing, labor-saving home appliances, entertainment, exercise equipment, luxury vacations and, most significantly, processed foods.
Agriculture rapidly industrialized and generated highly processed foods that supplanted most home cooking; skills were replaced with products, thrift with income, and time with convenience.
I just spoke on the phone with a young woman who lives across the country. She has a young child who is in daycare all day while she works full time. Her husband never wanted her to work. I asked her if she made much money and she said no. I encouraged her to quit her job and start living frugally at home taking care of her husband, child, and home.
A penny saved is a penny earned. Money saved isn't taxed! You don't need everything society tells you that you need. Read Tightwad Gazette if you need to learn how to pinch pennies. Someone needs to be home keeping the home fires burning.
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
I Timothy 5:14
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