The Days of when mom stayed home and dad worked and his paycheck  

My dad works full-time and overtime, my mom works part-time. It is possible like that I'd say, although my mom can be quite a big spender. I suppose it mainly depends on how much you earn on a single full-time income though, whether this is 1200 Eur or 8000 Eur that of course greatly differs, but those differences are easy to find.

Unfortunately those times are gone. As for us my husband and I both work full time, plus he does side jobs. I do small things for extra cash such as MyLot and with all that we still can barely make ends meet. It really is sad that the only feesible way one parent has the choice of staying home to raise the children is if the family accepts living in poverty or the other parent is just super successful. This is something that my co-worker and I talk about quite a bit. We just think it would be so nice to be able to be home when our kids get home and how nice it would be to do things around the house while they were at school. Unfortunatly unless we win the lottery those things will never come true. Thanks for the interesting topic.

I wish that I could say that those days weren't almost gone. However the true is that those times and them days are about gone. It difinitely takes more than one income for a family to survive. I had learned this last year. I stayed at home with my pregnancy and older child while he worked. Now he works two jobs, I do what I can to make money for the family. i just wish that those days weren't passing us by. The one thing that I got out of being at home is being with my kids. They learn soo much and enjoy having me at home with them doing things with them. I must admit I love it too. I'm gonna hate going back to work when that time comes.

For two years we have had only one income - we are two adults, no children. We do not have much debt, and we are quite modest when it comes to shopping and going out on the town. Still, it has not been possible for us to get by one one salary. We have had to cut back on everything possible and impossible, we have gotten food from relatives, and my parents have given us quite a bit of money. I do not believe it is possible to be a one income household in any of the larger towns and cities here in Norway - not even if you are a one person household. it is possible to live quite comfortably on one salary in the countryside. Here - in the city - housing is far to expencive for one person to cover. Even if it is only a one room apartment in a run down building in the outskirts of town

Truly depends on what country you are in. For most countries I would say that most families need to have both the couples working to make ends meet. A big chunks of your salary goes to pay taxes doesn't it?

I think for most Americans, those days are pretty much gone forever. I would gladly be a stay-at-home mom, but my family depends on my income as well as my husband's. And then there is the whole issue of health insurance. In my family I am the one whose job provides the health care coverage, which is very important these days as you know. My parents told me that they didn't even have health insurance when I was born, which was back in the 60s - they say they didn't really need it, no one did. But things have changed a lot since then, and so unfortunately I am pretty much stuck working.

related resource: home health care

My husband and I use to be a two income family but about 2 weeks after we got married we got pregnant and decided as soon as we found out that I would stay at home. So going on almost 14 months, I have been a stay at home mom working from home doing various jobs to help out but my husband is the only one working a fulltime job. Granted we do not have a lot of luxury things but we get by. It can be done and we are living proof. You just need to get on a budget and minimize.

When my husband and I first got together I was working full time. I continued to work full time after our first child was born. I worked at a daycare so I could take her with me. Shortly before my second was born they changed bosses where i worked and they wanted me to pay for my kids to come to daycare with me. so not only was i paying to watch my own kids, but by the time i paid for daycare and lunches for them to bring to daycare, i was in the hole. so i quit my job and i stayed home with the kids and my husband works full time. I watch a friends little boy for some extra money.

In these days it is very hard to have just a single income.

I speak this from experience.

My husband works full time, and I stay at home with the kids, and I home school them. (that's another story in itself)

We are constantly stretching our money to try to make ends meet.

Having just moved we are more so now than most weeks sucking wind to make ends meet until my husband gets paid.

I often do paid to read, paid to click emails, to bring in just a few dollars every month, no its not a lot but it can help us buy necessities or other things we need.

In short it 'can be done', but its not easy....

Mooch

It can definately be done, but it takes determined effort to do it. It also takes sacrifice. I'm not sure too many people are willing to sacrifice as much as they could to be able to live on one income.
As for the days of Ozzie and Harriett, I believe for the most part, those families are gone as well as the days that went with them.
I think it's sad but I'm an old fashioned person too. I'm not much for how things are going in families these days.
That's a whole other kettle of fish thought.