Hacker News Reader

Comment by gizmo686 | Hacker News Reader

That is likely part of the perceived problem, but seems lacking. When the wife stayed home to manage the family, we had the husband working 40 hour weeks. Now, the gender equalization is not taking the form of the 40 hours being shared between the spouses, but rather the 80 hours shared between them.

View on HN

There is overhead on jobs. Unless performing the most simple mind numbing factory assembly line work, 2 x 20hrs << 1 x 40 hrs. There's also double the time wasted on commutes.

Then there coordination overhead in the family - even if the two parents work 20 hours each, it's unlikely that it's exactly divided so one is always home. Child care costs a lot of money. Eating out costs money.

But the most important reason: People still want careers and a career on half the working time takes in extremely simple terms at least twice as long.

My wife and I worked out a plan: we moved very close to her parents who agreed to watch our children for three days a week. I work M-F days only, no nights, no weekends. My wife works Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Together we make enough to pays the bills, save a little, and have a bit of fun. The children are taken care of first and foremost.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice to make do for your family by moving, whatever. It's always better to sacrifice money than time from your children. As long as you are making it and saving a little and have a bit for holidays, nothing else really matters. Getting rich should never be the goal.

This strikes me as a justification for your lifestyle rather than a solid argument that can convince other people. There's nothing wrong with you living your life the way you want, but saying "Getting rich should never be the goal." is just plain wrong for some people.

Your tone seems to me like you once wanted to be rich, but have since given up and are now trying to convince others that they should just give up too.

To be honest, I've never desired to be well off. I'm a minimalist by nature and the less I have to worry about, the better. I make enough to do what I need and want to do. I'm content with what I have. I am fortunate enough to have marries a woman with the same sentiments, so we neither want nor need much beyond the basics -- and decent espresso and interesting travel.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com