Fathers and Finances

     In society the man of the household is looked at as the breadwinner of the family and that is usually all that they are good for. However, it is often overlooked that a father figure is just as important in the life of a child just as much as the mother is. Just take one look at the tv shows that play today and how they portray father figures in the structure of the family. Usually the father is aloof as what is happening in the lives of his children and when he is finally confronted and forced to deal with the problems within the family he is awkward and clueless. In these shows, they make the role of a father in a family seem obsolete apart from the fact that they bring financial stability to them. But their active presence in the family plays an integral part in how the children grow up to be. Fathers can offer their family a great eal of insight and guidance to his children just as much as the mother can. Some might think it’s a dumb stereotype that girls that who do not have a good father figure to look up tend to look for unhealthy forms of love through their relationships. But in all actuality there are studies that support these claims that if girls don’t grow up with love from a fatherly figure will actually do these things more often than not. 

    It only seems logically that if both of the parents in a family bring in their own source of income it will equate to more money for the family. However, this is not always the case with other expenses that couples do not take in account for actually eating up a lot more of the money than they think. An accountant who wanted to demonstrate this idea took a couple who both had jobs and studied their financial standing. The man is bringing in an income of $42,000 annually and spending 45 hours away from the home. While the woman is bringing in $21,000 annually spending approximately 35 hours away from the home. All these numbers are before tax and you would be led to believe that their total income for this household would be around $63,000 annually. However it was revealed that their income totaled with all the extra expense was around $40,500. When there were two incomes it actually made their annual income less than if there was only one income. Some of the unexpected expenses were that because the mother was taken away from the home for her job they need to hire extra care to tend to the needs of the children. Most likely, the husband and wife would not be lucky enough to be able to travel to work together so there will be extra transportation expense and maybe that  would entail buying another car. This new job that the woman took might require a professional wardrobe that she does not yet have so she will have to shop for an appropriate outfit. And finally when the parents are finally home with their children they are tired after a long day at work and probably do not want to have to cook for their family. This will cause an increase in the family buying convenience foods and not actually going to the store to buy ingredients and make meals. That is basic budgeting 101 that making your own meals opposed to buying quick meals will quickly and drastically save anybody money. Once children are involved the second income does not equate to as much as people may think.