Weekend Reading: Two Income Trap Edition

The number of dual income families with at least one child has almost doubled since 1976, according to new research released this week by Stats Canada, rising from 36 percent to 69 percent. Meanwhile, the number of single income families dropped from 59 percent to 27 percent.

More families are dual-income today for two reasons; better career opportunities for women, but also higher cost of living in cities like Toronto and Vancouver are forcing both parents into the workforce.

Interestingly, Alberta had the highest percentage of dual-income families in 1976 at 43 percent, but has seen the smallest increase since then, leaving it with the lowest number of dual-earner couples in the country at 64 percent. Saskatchewan and Quebec have the highest proportion of two-income families at 74 and 73 percent.

This week’s recap:

On Monday I rounded up a bunch of haggling success stories from other personal finance bloggers.

On Wednesday Marie explained how to organize your financial documents.

And on Friday I talked about the Costco effect on earning credit card rewards.

Speaking of rewards, over on my Rewards Cards Canada blog I reviewed the new Scotiabank More Rewards Visa card.

Weekend Reading:

The Globe and Mail’s John Heinzl is not a fan of using leverage but he kindly answers reader questions about borrowing to invest.

Related: Heinzl contributed to my post on borrowing to invest – what the experts have to say.

How to prepare employees for the psychological impact of retirement.

Harvard Business Review looks at how to change careers without having to start all over again.

A shameful and disgusting story about how patient information was sold from maternity wards to salespeople representing group RESP dealers. Another reason to steer clear of group RESPs.

A good piece on why house prices are to blame for Canada’s growing debt burden.

MoneySense on why Vancouver’s real estate market is a freak show:

A group known as the Business-Higher Education Roundtable wants every university and college student in Canada to participate in a co-op, internship or other workplace experience before they graduate.

Helaine Olen debunks the personal finance advice industry’s favourite myth: buying coffee every day isn’t why you’re in debt.

Jessica Moorhouse shares 30 life lessons she learned before turning 30. I love these reflective posts. Here are my 35 thoughts on turning 35.

You don’t have to make excuses for your spending when you’re saving half your income but Des Odjick defends her guilt-free spending here.

Consumer advocate Ellen Roseman steps in to help readers when big companies like Bell and Aeroplan drag their feet on doing the right thing. Sometimes a call from the media or even a lowly personal finance blogger is enough to get a big company to take action.

Here’s MoneySense’s guide on how to complain about bad customer service.

Rob Carrick is a big fan of Interac e-Transfers and issues a memo to banks that this convenient way to send money is here to stay.

A quick primer on how extra mortgage payments actually work.

Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi believes that higher wages will lead to mass replacement of human workers, but that hasn’t been the case at McDonald’s today as current CEO Steve Easterbrook explains why the fast-food icon will always have a human element.

Have a great weekend, everyone!