The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke English Language Edition

by Elizabeth Warren (Author), Amelia Warren Tyagi (Author)

137 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0465090822

ISBN-10: 0465090826

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Share <Embed>

Condition: Used - Acceptable

In Stock. Sold by Care Center Charities, Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

103 Used from $8.29

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by The Bearded Veteran and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

This item ships to France. Want it Wednesday, Oct. 10? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

List Price: $26.00
Save: $14.24 (55%)

20 New from $6.10

Deliver to France

Turn on 1-Click ordering

More Buying Choices

20 New from $6.10 103 Used from $8.29

123 used & new from $8.29

See All Buying Options

Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student

More than two decades ago, the women's movement flung open the doors of the workplace. Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now.In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid.How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $30.98

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke by Elizabeth Warren Hardcover $11.76
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by The Bearded Veteran and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren Paperback $7.67
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford Paperback $11.55
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Elizabeth Warren

221

Paperback
$7.67
Elizabeth Warren

1,641

Hardcover
$5.00
Elizabeth Warren

221

Hardcover
$16.85
Elizabeth Warren

550

Hardcover
$15.99
Martin Ford

353

in Industrial Technology
Paperback
$11.55
Bob Woodward

1,073

in US Presidents
Hardcover
$17.99

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Warren, a law professor at Harvard (The Fragile Middle Class) and her daughter Tyagi, a former McKinsey consultant, have joined forces here to argue here that the two-parent middle-class working family is on the brink of financial disaster. The number of families declaring bankruptcy or receiving a foreclosure against their house has shot up dramatically. Presenting carefully researched economic data to support their arguments, the authors contend that, contrary to popular myth, families aren't in trouble because they're squandering their second income on luxuries. On the contrary, both incomes are almost entirely committed to necessities, such as home and car payments, health insurance and children's education costs. When an unforeseen event such as serious illness, job loss or divorce occurs, families have no discretionary income to fall back on. The authors recommend a number of useful societal solutions to get families out of this trap, such as legally prohibiting credit card companies from charging grossly unfair interest rates and exposing banks that employ a loan-to-own strategy that steers minority customers to higher mortgage rates with an eye to future foreclosures. Warren and Tyagi point out that families buy homes they cannot afford in order to live in a neighborhood with better schools. Their proposed solution, however-to institute a public school voucher system with wider choice-is less carefully thought out. Overall, however, this is a needed examination of an emerging social problem.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Elizabeth Warren is the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She is the co-author of As We Forgive Our Debtors and The Fragile Middle Class, as well as three leading commercial law casebooks. She is vice-president of the American Law Institute, and served as Chief Advisor to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Amelia Warren Tyagi has worked as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey and Company, specializing in health care, insurance, and education, and she co-founded the successful healthcare start-up HealthAllies. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her husband and two-year-old daughter, Octavia. Elizabeth Warren is the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She is the co-author of As We Forgive Our Debtors and The Fragile Middle Class, as well as three leading commercial law casebooks. She is vice-president of the American Law Institute, and served as Chief Advisor to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Amelia Warren Tyagi has worked as an Engagement Manager with McKinsey and Company, specializing in health care, insurance, and education, and she co-founded the successful healthcare start-up HealthAllies. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California, with her husband and two-year-old daughter, Octavia.

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; English Language edition (September 3, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465090826
ISBN-13: 978-0465090822
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 137 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1259 in Books > Business & Money > Women & Business
- #1601 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Marriage & Family
- #5503 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Sociology

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 137 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Justin B.

An interesting read, albeit a bit alarming...

October 22, 2011

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If nothing else, this was a really interesting book. I read it on a coast-to-coat flight, mostly because I simply couldn't put it down. My wife read a good portion of it and agreed it was interesting before she left the book on a plane. We both agreed that parts were alarmist, but still worth reading.

The authors, a mother-daughter pair, lay out the case for how women entering the workforce has correlated with an increase in the declarations of bankruptcies by people with children as compared to their predecessors. To be clear, they don't advocate for women to abstain from working or having children, but simply lay out the argument that families with access to the additional income of two earners can place themselves at increased risk of economic collapse simply by chasing the American Dream (a nice house in a good school district, access to good higher education for children, etc.).

While many parts seemed alarmist to me, many of the arguments were well-articulated and well-documented, with some fascinating numbers, excellent debunking of urban legends, and some common sense analysis of contributing factors. Women, especially mothers, will probably particularly relate to the material, since it's admittedly written from the perspective of two mothers (keep in mind, I did really enjoy the book). If nothing else, it made us think.

8 people found this helpful9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

LEditrix

Never goes out of date.

December 31, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I'm not a fan of E. Warren's politics, but this book is fantastic. A must-read. I'm a therapist, and encourage my clients with young children to buy this book. It quite sensibly argues that one parent oughta stay home and raise those kids. Live within your means, and have a spare income-earner if the primary bread-winner loses employment. Well written, well argued.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Geoffrey Dewan

When More Is Less

October 14, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Elizabeth Warren and her daughter bring a deeply researched and and almost counterintuitive topic into much clearer focus. Yes, families with two incomes have twice as much money but they are also twice as likely to face loss which, if it takes both incomes to maintain current lifestyle is very often catastrophic. The current two income family, which is basically the norm, is incredibly vulnerable to calamitous dislocations often up to and including bankruptcy. Professor Warren is amply credentialled in this are as she teaches bankruptcy law at theHarvard Law Schoool. Along the way she explains the pressures on the prices of education and housing which both solve and exacerbate the problems the modern family faces along with some sensible policy suggestions that show a way through ths morass both as individuals and a society.

One person found this helpful2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Michelle

Game Changer

April 11, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I have read this book at different points in my life, and I have to say that my understanding and take away points are vastly different each time I've read it-- First assigned to me as a budding college student, the ideas presented here were easily understandable, but seemed a bit abstract and inapplicable. I was single and very professionally ambitious. My family is considered middle class, and when looking at ways to best manage our incomes as a family unit, I remembered this book and made my husband read it. As a wife and new mother, the ideas presented here took on a new weight. I love very much how this book is laid out to compare and contrast generational ideas on 2 income households. With my life very drastically changing recently to include a child, I never thought I'd want to be a stay at home mom-- Just the opposite, in fact. My family had never planned on moving to 1 income, and what that might entail. As a proud professional woman, I have to say that I really respected the ideas put forth here, and found Elizabeth Warren's ideas inspiring-- and heeded the warnings outlined here as we plan for our own future. My family is new and has a ways to go, but my husband and I really enjoyed discussing this book, and how we might agree to internalize some ideas and which we wanted to revisit once we get into a better place financially.

6 people found this helpful7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Klaviergoddess

Grim news but it's important to face it.

September 28, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Here you will find well-defined and researched answers to the question of why the majority of middle class families feel they are locked in a vice grip of financial pressure, in spite of their multiple college degrees and well-planned choices. We all simply wanted what our parents had. We thought gathering an impressive education and working extremely hard would get us there. We were wrong. Welcome to the world of the downwardly mobile!

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Tim Dewald

Great book, well researched. Solid quality.

January 11, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

An interesting and well-researched insight into the problems plaguing many middle-class families. This book will challenge not only your preconceived notions on topics including bankruptcy and the decline of the middle-class, but might cause you to rethink your own lifestyle and make changes so that you too don't fall into the Two-Income Trap.

Also - I bought it used so I don't fall into the Two-Income Trap and the quality was just fine.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Kirin36

Great book - highly recommended!

December 27, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Interesting book by one of the most consumer oriented politicians on congress. Warren presents an interesting prospective from a professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the US. Her writing is not that of a technocrat. Rather, it is in an easy to read style she is known for. Great reading and not overly long.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Melissa Schulte

GREAT BOOK

July 20, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This greatly helped my husband and I both come to a strong solid agreement regarding finances and how we, too, were trapped by the thinking that due to having two incomes that must mean more money and a bigger lifestyle! Great read!

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Elizabeth Warren

18

Paperback
$9.54
Elizabeth Warren

221

Paperback
$7.67
Erik Brynjolfsson

620

Paperback
$15.26
Martin Ford

353

in Industrial Technology
Paperback
$11.55
Elizabeth Warren

550

Hardcover
$15.99
Elizabeth Warren

1,641

Hardcover
$5.00

The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke English Language Edition

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke English Language Edition

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $8.29 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open $11.76 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$8.29 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open

$11.76 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open