[quote=scaredyclassic]How about this set up. No more marriage. The wealthier spouse simply employs the less wealthy spouse as a domestic engineer. All the household expenses are probably tax deductible, since the business is the business of raising baby. Also satsisfying certain needs of the employer.. the engineer is at a lower tax bracket than the employer, so there’s a tax advantage beyond deducting all sorts of things that otherwise wouldn’t be deductible if this work weren’t employment and valued appropriately. On the bright side for the employer, there’s no community to divide upon divorce, because there’s no divorce, simply employer employee. Also, the employer can just give the employee the boot at any time, assuming we’re in an at will state. Since everything’s being fully compensated at an agreed upon market value, there’s no need to pay any alimony. Child support still applies, but that’s just the cost fo doing business. Check with your acct to see if that might eb tax deductible under these circumstances.
This seems like a better deal all around. No illusions. No uncompensated work. Lesser women will have to work for lesser employers and it may be very lwo wage, but that’s their decision, to work for a very small business. They need to work for a larger more thriving concern if they want their work valued appropriately to what they feel it’s worth. If the employer provides any service to the spouse, that’s service may be deducted from wages. Vacation and various employment rules apply, so more than one spouse for child care may be required, as there are limits on shift work, breaks, etc. [/quote]
Believe it or not, I would concur with this. Marriage has masked the value of the work that has traditionally been done by women because these women value other things (love, affection, physical security, social status, etc.) that come with marriage. If we were to divorce the work from these more emotional aspects of marriage, then we could get a truer picture of the monetary value of caretaking and other “women’s work.”
And we should emphasize the transitory nature of the working relationship so that women understand that they will be back on the street, looking for other work, when they are finished with their first “jobs.” That way, they could more adequately price their services that tend to be front-loaded and which they won’t be able to replicate at a later time; a bit like football players expect to be paid more because their value is highest in the beginning of their careers, and it could all end at any moment.
