Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny199r
Can't a fireman do that now? Let's assume a wage of $90,000 for a firefighter (and assuming he has no 2nd, part time job like lots of firefighters I know) let's assume his wife makes $60,000. That's $150,000. He's got a great pension, so there's retirement set.
I don't know anyone that has 4 kids anymore, but let's assume 2-3 kids. If they buy a $400,000 house in the outer suburbs. 2 used vehicles. Assuming vacations are reasonable (camping in the mountains rather than $10,000 family vacations every year) and no ridiculous competitive hockey fees for the kids, they should be able to have a nice life - keep in mind families 30-40 years ago weren't taking their kids to Mexico and paying 5-10k a year for kids hockey.
The days of one breadwinner have been over for a long time. Does it make sense today that a dad who works as a store clerk, or bus driver should be able to support of a family of 5 like the old days? Should women not be in the workforce anymore, or have their fields super low paid again? There's a reason construction labourers are still paid much high than early childhood educators, because men historically needed to support a family.
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Your scenario paints a well above average income, and the options are limited to a house in an outlying and undesirable neighborhood. What about families that actually earn average incomes... Or even slightly less. Basically everyone's been knocked down several pegs.
Edit:
It's also extremely difficult to find a fireman income that pays a steady salary of $90k. You'd probably have to be a sub on call for a decade to find that.