It’s no secret that the birth rates across industrialized countries have been on the decline for the last handful of decades. Professional single women now outnumber men in the workforce. The decline of birth rates is due to changes in legislation, international warfare, and the ease and availability of resources. The 1960s sexual revolution was perhaps one of America’s biggest tipping points, mostly because women could not have access to birth control, which allowed women to be sexually liberated. Not having children allows people to save more money and have more freedom to travel and to do what they want, when they want. Professional single women are rising in society by taking advantage of sexual liberation, independence, and the modern economy.
Childfree Professional Single Women In Society
Legislation
In America, the Affirmative Action plan was passed In 1961 by President Kennedy, creating the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity which made employers take action to ensure that every person receives an equal opportunity, this included women receiving equal wages of their male counterparts.
Along with the Affirmative Action, shorty to follow was the 1960’s sexual revolution. which made it possible for women to get birth control. Since then, women can have sex without the heavy consecutive of raising a child.
International Warfare
During WWII in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, Rosie the Riveter came into existence to influence women to get jobs in order to help the countries production during war time. Women became needed in the workforce because the majority of American men were out fighting in WWII. When women began working, they also began bringing in a paycheck and learned to depend on themselves while their men were away. With men at war, birth rates also declined. As soon as men began to return after the war ended, women were pushed to return to their previous roles in the home – the result was that many women pushed back rightfully so to claim what was equally theirs: a secure job in the marketplace with good earnings.
*Check out this graph and notice that just before the baby boom in 1945 there was a drop in the birth rate during WWII.
Economy
The old way of growing up on a farm and raising kids are long gone. Because food, services, and other resources are so easily attainable, we don’t need a family to depend on. Women with economic independence can further their reach because they are no longer burned with outdated technology to keep their homes nice and feed themselves. We now have one of the most technologically advanced marketplace of our times.
Summary
Our current economy has made being a childfree single woman easier than ever before in history. Professional single women can lead more independent lives without children because of changes in legislation, international warfare, and our economy. Professional single women are the new normal and it is wonderful.
Securely yours,
Danielle
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
The GOP has rearranged the tax brackets from seven into four. This is good for some, and not for others. Simple is better in some cases, especially with tax. Here is the scoop on how the new tax codes will affect you.
Winners and Losers
Losers: Low income filers with children and households that are inadvertently bumped into a higher bracket.
Winners: Low-to-middle income households and the 5.2 million middle-to-high income taxpayers who are subject to this levy.
According to the new plan, the standard deduction will change from $24,400 for married couples who file jointly and $12,200 for single filers, which is nearly double up from the current rate.
Current and New Tax Brackets
There are currently seven tax brackets which break into the following categories:
10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6%.
The four new and simplified tax brackets are as follows:
12%, 25%, 35%, and 39.6%.
The new tax plan could hurt singles with children. According to Slate, the new tax plan would do away with personal exemptions, which currently allow parents to deduct $4,050 from their taxes for themselves and each of their dependents. This would lead to parents owing more taxes on their earnings. The new tax plan would also increase the lowest tax rate from 10 percent to 12 percent.
Slate simplifies this here:
“Consider a married couple with two children earning $50,000. Today, they’d be allowed to take the standard deduction, worth $12,700, plus four personal exemptions, worth $16,200—bringing their tax-exempt income all the way up to $28,900. Under the Trump plan, they’d only have a single $24,000 deduction. As a result, they’d end up paying $888 more in taxes.
All working-class couples with children whose adjusted gross incomes fall between $24,000 and $60,000 will pay more in taxes under the Trump plan than under the current tax system, according to Daniel Hemel and Kyle Rozema from Slate.
Additional Money for Singles Standard Deductions
Under the current system, a single filer can take a standard deduction of $6,350 and a personal exemption of $4,050. That equates to $10,400 in tax savings compared with the proposed $12,000 standard deduction for singles.
GOP Tax Plan Pros and Cons
Depending on where you fall in the income earning bracket, you will either win or lose. If you find yourself at the top of a tax bracket cutoff, find a new way to make more money and bump up into the next category where you can have a better break. There are only four, so make sure you know where you stand. Also, converse with a licensed CPA before making any decisions on your money. Knowledge is power.
Cheers,
Danielle
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
The Trump administration has proposed to get rid of one of the tax filing statuses that gives single parents a deduction in the tax code. There are currently two types of filing in the tax code: married and single. Single parents are currently able to file under the married section that saves them money when filing taxes. The new proposal would create a third category for single parents that would result in them paying more for on their yearly taxes. This is a further step in the wrong direction. Singles and single parents should not be taxed more than their married counterparts.
2016 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 at a campaign rally said that under Donald Trump’s tax plan “51 percent of singles would see their taxes go up.” Now that Donald Trump is President he is able to affect policy and make the Republican Party fall in line with what he wants it to become, which it is doing with ease. One of his policies, while cutting taxes for the majority of the middle class, would raise taxes in three different ways on singles. The first way is that Trump’s tax plan rates affects singles who are in the 33% tax bracket, or who make up to $127,500. The second way is that Trump would eliminate personal exemptions while raising standard deductions on singles. By raising the standard deduction, singles can expect a minimum increase of $8,750 from what they pay in taxes now which is more than those who are married. A third element of Trump’s tax plan is that it would eliminate single parents’ head of household status. Single parents’ will suffer by no longer being considered a head of household under Trump’s tax plan. In short, singles and single parents will pay more and see increased taxes under now President Trump’s tax plan.
Single parents are becoming more normal as society has seen a spike in divorces. Singles can now become a single parent by choice through adoption or in vitro fertilization. Singles also outnumber the married population in America. This tax policy defies the new normal of people remaining single longer, delaying marriage, or deciding to never get married. It is time for Washington to recognize the plight of singles and single parents and phase out head of household status. This would be a step to make singles, single parents, and those who are married more equal with tax policy. The next, and larger, step would be to eradicate the more than 1,000 laws that favor and benefit those who are married. None of these steps will come soon to Washington since both parties are entrenched in political interests. Those who are unmarried, single, and single parents should push their representatives to expunge the laws that benefit those who are married. This would be the fairest tax policy option to make singles and married equal during tax season.
Singles already pay more taxes with the current tax code compared to those who are married. In addition, those who are married receive over a 1,000 tax benefits and deductions merely because they are married. The tax code must be simplified and the deductions and benefits for those who are married abolished. It is time for the government, on all levels, to acknowledge the rise of singles and lower their tax rates.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!
The 85th Texas Legislator recently passed Texas House Bill 3859 that protects adoption agencies right of conscience to deny prospective parents from adopting who they deem unfit. This is in fact a reasonable law as the country seems to continue to want to slowly erase First Amendment protections to religious freedom, contrary to the media hysteria that has resounded with a discrimination alarm. The problem is more about the relationship that adoption agencies have with the state. Single parents should have adoption access by finding an agency that works with singles who want to be parents.
The core concern that “only Christian groups are contracted with the state, [advocates have] raised concerns that taxpayer-funded agencies will be protected if they reject parents of other faiths.” However, the bill explicitly reads “It is the intent of the legislature to maintain a diverse network of service providers that offer a range of foster capacity options and that can accommodate children from various cultural backgrounds.” Why do adoption organizations have a relationship with the state? Why does the state, or a state approved agency, need to be involved in foster care and adoption? Those are the two essential questions related to Texas. The fact that only Christian adoption agencies have a relationship with the state and act as the state’s adoption middle man is secondary. That problem reflects the second question. If the state controls the foster care system, it has control over what type of agencies it wants to be involved with state adoption. In states that are not as conservative or religious as Texas, such as Washington and New York, the types of agencies that the state works with are probably different from those of Texas. That is how federalism works. States are independent to make their own laws and operate differently from other states. Anyone who wants to become a parent should be able to, but the adoption organization that parents go to should have the right to disapprove a candidate if they do not fit an adoption agency’s requirements and any state laws.
By taking power away from the state to penalize agencies and giving more to adoption agencies, it gives more freedom and choice to the consumers who want to become parents. This will also help to decentralize the adoption agency market that state often controls by using only one or a couple of approved providers in its foster care network. Such is the case with the controversy currently surrounding Texas. Since adoption organizations’ have different criteria for what a prospective parent must meet before they are able to adopt, there will be some agencies that will not accept certain people. This is actually fine, although it is contrary to current popular thought. For example, there is a single woman who has been divorced twice. This woman goes to three different agencies with three different requirements. The first agency is an orthodox Catholic adoption agency that requires that prospective parents have been married for a certain number of years, are in a good marriage, and do not think that they will divorce in the future. The second agency requires information from the potential parent regarding their yearly salary, criminal record, and any health concerns that may come up when the agency runs a background check. Finally, the third is a progressive adoption agency that only requires that the parent will be able to care for the child and does not have any history of child abuse and a criminal record. Which of these three agencies will the twice divorced single parent most likely meet the agencies requirements for? Options two and three. Each agency had its own prerequisites, but the first option most likely would require that the parent be Christian or Catholic, ask if she has annulled her past marriages, and if she regularly goes to church. The other two won’t be concerned with these type of questions. For this reason, she will still be able to adopt but it will be through organizations that she meets the requirements of. This scenario can be changed with a gay couple, atheists or Hindus, and for single parents. They will still be able to find access to an agency to become parents that is fine with certain lifestyles because they are not in a relationship with the state that will have its own criteria.
People are single for a number of reasons, the unmarried are a growing demographic in countries, and solutions need to be found to let them become parents. The two main ways are adoption or through in vitro fertilization for singles who want to become parents. Both of those options would have improved access for single parents if the state or federal government did create arbitrary definitions or worked with agencies that will naturally approve certain candidates and not others for adoption. The United States is a Constitutional Republic that is based upon federalism. All states have the ability to make their own laws and to test ideas as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously stated in his dissent, “The ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas — that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.” Some single parents may not be able to become parents in Texas because of the state’s laws and how it operates with foster care agencies. Those singles who really want to be parents should seek out an agency that will approve someone who is unmarried to become a parent through adoption rather than complain about the Texas’ new bill.
Views expressed in this article are the author’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Secure Single. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment or financial advice. James Bollen is the author of Thriving Solo: How to Flourish and Live Your Perfect Life (Without A Soulmate). Now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon. Subscribe to Secure Single’s Substack for free!