Why Middle-Class Mothers & Fathers Are Going Broke{snip}
Not even a college degree offers insurance anymore. Indeed, college-educated women are 60% more likely to end up bankrupt than less-educated females. That's because educated women often find themselves in financially ruinous divorces from which they can never recover economically. In the 1970s, the average newly divorced woman found 19% of her income to be discretionary. Today, that figure has fallen to 4%.
The book offers a long list of prescriptions, the boldest of which are tax-exemption for all savings and a school-choice voucher system that would pay the entire cost of educating a child, allowing kids to apply to any public school regardless of their Zip Code. The authors also argue for expanded financial assistance for pre-K and college education, as well as more policies that would discourage debt.
The role of personal responsibility isn't shortchanged, either. More and more, you're on your own -- and yet 32% of employees still don't contribute a dime to their 401(k)s. Here, the authors' solutions are the old standbys: Stash away enough cash to support yourself for six months. Max out on retirement savings. Scrape together that old-fashioned 20% downpayment.
But even for families that do everything right, the line between solvency and bankruptcy has never been thinner. One catastrophic medical incident, one job loss, one divorce -- and they may never recover. Despite being courted hard by politicians, there's no such thing as a safety net for the middle class.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_37/b3849034_mz005.htm