There was a time in America – our parents’ and grandparents’ eras – when one income could support an entire family. This was a time when mothers stayed home – not because they were lazy or unambitious, but because it was understood that a strong society began with a strong home and that raising children was valuable work. Dinner was on the table, neighbors knew each other, kids grew up with stability, and family time wasn’t squeezed into the margins of exhaustion.

Fast-forward 70 years and the picture looks painfully different.

Today, families with two incomes can barely make ends meet. The cost of living has outpaced wages so dramatically that the idea of a parent staying home to raise their own children feels almost like an unaffordable luxury – something only the wealthy can afford. M

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