[bkmartin]

I definitely understand what you are saying. But I would rather compare families of 4 since that is close to the norm today. Houses are bigger, real estate is more expensive, shopping is not often walkable (in suburbia/rural areas). So for the stay at home parent they are stuck if you only have 1 car. This isn't very good for when the kids need to visit a doctor or the homemaker needs to shop for groceries, etc. We live in a much faster paced world. How many people come home from work today and put on slippers and a sweater. Then eat their dinner and read the paper or watch the news? The Norman Rockwell version of American life has mostly disappeared. The Joneses are fast, keeping up takes lots of time and money.