The Economic Decline of the Family

International evidence points to a widespread decline in the economic standard of living for the family. This trend is reinforced by a number of underlying tendencies, including stagnating wages, the rise of unemployment, weak labor participation, poor housing affordability, limited saving, and skyrocketing personal debt. These realities are also affecting young adults, who, in a historically unprecedented trend, are likely to be worse off than their parents. This book identifies the reason for these trends, and argues that the answer lies in the context of five key deformations that affect the family. Firstly, the family is negatively influenced by liberalism. While one form of liberalism infects society through economic means, the other affects society through civil means. Secondly, liberal economic ideologies and theories have proved to be destructive to the family. Thirdly, the book challenges the notion that political shifts are beneficial to the family’s economic wellbeing. Fourthly, the pursuit of materialistic possessions, money, and wealth, which are supposed to bring the family joy, instead sow the seeds of familial destruction. Lastly, debt is proven to be the silent assassin of human happiness, marital and familial relations, and physical and mental health.