[seehafer]

You can easily live nowadays on a one-parent income... just not in the Bay Area. I lived in the Dallas area and that was the norm -- and not just for middle-income tech people either. A modest house (that doesn't cost much) and only one car (as it was in the 50's) and you can get by on a 60-70K salary, even taking into account childcare.

[anovikov]

You can, but the standards of consumption changed to reflect working spouses, so with wife not working, most people will look like losers. That's life and it's not the problem of bus drivers only. If one doesn't like that he can turn sexist and beat wife locking her up at home, see how far he goes... Like it or not but living standards - in both material and behaviourial sense - imply working spouses for everyone except upper class folks (and even them usually have spouses working to avoid looking sexist and old-fashioned).